CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1.6 million to the State of Maine to reimburse Maine Medical Center in Portland for various costs incurred responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $1,605,360 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the 637-bed teaching hospital and flagship facility for MaineHealth for the added costs associated with responding to the pandemic between January and September 2020.
The hospital purchased medical supplies such as thermometers, oximeters, stethoscopes, sanitizing wipes, testing site furniture for social distancing; rented medical equipment such as ventilators for treating COVID-19 patients; and rented tents and trailers for temporary testing sites as well as provided heating and ventilation equipment for those sites.
Maine Medical Center also contracted for additional security for COVID units and testing sites, and for paging services for COVID-19 patient care.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Maine Medical Center 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 nearly $304 million in Public Assistance grants to Maine to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.