The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $20 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. for the cost of contracting for additional staff to handle increased patient loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $20,050,452 in Public Assistance grants will reimburse the non-profit, community-based health system that operates three hospitals in southeastern Massachusetts and facilities in Rhode Island for the cost of contracting for additional staff as well as paying existing staff to work additional hours, including overtime.
One grant of $16,493,014 will reimburse the health system for 71 workers to work 38,468 unbudgeted straight time hours and 1,930 overtime hours, and for 388 contracted workers who put in 170,614 hours, between January 2020 and July 2022.
A second grant of $3,557,438 will reimburse Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. for contracting with thirteen companies to provide 189 healthcare service personnel who worked 41,831 hours while temporarily replacing full-time staff who were transferred from their departments to others to attend the influx of patients between July 2022 and December 2022.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Southcoast Hospitals Group with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery.”
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 $2.7 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.