BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $3.7 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Baystate Medical Center for the costs of hiring temporary nurses to handle increased patient loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $3,737,917 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the 716-bed independent medical center in Springfield – affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School – for the cost of contracting for 94 registered nurses providing 22,678 hours of care for COVID-19 related emergency and inpatient medical care.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Baystate Medical Center 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 $1.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.