FEMA Awards Over $2.4 Million to Southcoast Hospitals for COVID-19 Staffing Costs

Release Date Release Number
129
Release Date:
June 2, 2023

BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $2.4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. for the cost of paying staff for extra hours worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $2,457,040 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the nonprofit, community-based health system that operates three hospitals in southeastern Massachusetts and facilities in Rhode Island for the cost of having employees work extra hours to deal with the increased patient loads caused by COVID-19.

The organization provided staff for emergency medical care, personal protective equipment (PPE) fit testing and distribution, employee and patient testing, staffing a COVID-19 Hotline, screening, and additional security at the hospital.

In total, Southcoast Hospitals Group paid 1,005 employees for 47,636 hours of straight time labor and 383 employees for 11,076 hours of incentive pay between March 2020 and July 2022.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. 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 $1.7 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.

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