DENVER – FEMA has approved an additional $47 million in Public Assistance funding for the
COVID-19 response in Colorado. The assistance was made available under a major disaster declaration issued March 28, 2020. FEMA has now approved more than $1.8 billion in Public Assistance grant funds to Colorado for the COVID-19 response.
The FEMA Public Assistance funds were approved to reimburse Banner Health of Colorado for the cost of hiring contracted staff to support the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In response to the public health crisis caused by the pandemic, Banner Health hired an additional 494 temporary medical staff to provide COVID-19 care including intensive care, medical/surgical care, progressive care, emergency center support, sterile processing, pre-admission services, and support for respiratory care departments.
The FEMA grant covers the cost of temporary staffing utilized by Banner Health facilities between March 15, 2020, and February 6, 2022.
For the COVID-19 response, FEMA has simplified the Public Assistance application and funding process to address the magnitude of this event and to allow state and local governments to receive eligible funding more quickly. These reimbursements play a critical role as state, tribal and local officials work to assist their communities during the response.
To fully support this essential work, the President authorized provision of FEMA Public Assistance at 100 percent federal funding through July 1, 2022. Beginning July 2, 2022, the federal cost share for COVID-19 projects is 90 percent of the eligible cost.
Additional information about FEMA’s Public Assistance program can be found at www.fema.gov/assistance/public.