CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) announced today that $23,800,232.83 in federal funding has been made available to the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) for costs related to the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic under the federal disaster declaration of April 4, 2020.
This funding will reimburse Wisconsin DOA for costs to provide clinical care for COVID-19 patients at the alternate care facility that was located at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.
“FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an important resource for state, tribal, territorial and local governments and eligible private non-profits to cover eligible COVID-19 expenses,” said Tom Sivak, regional administrator, FEMA Region 5. “This facility was critical in ensuring the state had the necessary resources in place to relieve pressure on their hospital systems during the early days of the COVID-19 response.”
“We appreciate the support from our federal partners at FEMA throughout the pandemic,” said Wisconsin Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge. “As part of the team that helped stand up the alternate care facility at State Fair Park, this facility was essential in supporting our hospitals and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful for this funding through FEMA’s public assistance program, as the facility allowed our hospitals to focus on treating those with the most severe cases of COVID-19 to help save lives.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the support we received from FEMA to be able to stand up the alternative care facility, in order to provide flexible and quality care for patients and expand service capacity during a critical time in our state pandemic response,” said DOA Secretary-designee Kathy Blumenfeld. “The close collaboration among state, local and federal government partners also helped set the stage for a successful recovery in Wisconsin.”
FEMA provides a 100 percent federal share of eligible reimbursable expenses for this project.
FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provides supplemental grants to state, tribal, territorial and local governments, and certain types of private non-profits, so that communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. To learn more, visit FEMA’s website at www.fema.gov/public-assistance-local-state-tribal-and-non-profit.
FEMA's mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters.