FEMA Awards More Than $11.6 Million to Lowell General Hospital for COVID Staffing Costs

BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $11.6 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Lowell General Hospital for the costs of hiring additional staff to handle increased patient loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hospital, part of the Tufts Medicine health system, will receive a $11,615,610 FEMA Public Assistance grant to reimburse the hospital for hiring temporary staff to work between December 2021 and March 2022.

A total of 122 personnel incurred 33,298.85 regular time hours and 14,404.73 overtime hours at Lowell General Hospital’s Main Campus and at Saints Campus.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Lowell General Hospital with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation.”

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $1.3 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.