U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced that FEMA has released more than $657 million in funding to reimburse for COVID-19 expenses.
The funding will provide states, local governments and healthcare facilities for their costs responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The department said that while FEMA has provided funding as responsibly as possible, lapses in federal appropriations drastically depleted the Disaster Relief Fund, the agency’s primary source of funding for responding to and supporting recovery efforts from presidentially-declared disasters.
“FEMA continues to work tirelessly to clear the backlog of pending reimbursement requests for states, hospitals, local health care facilities and many others to ensure they receive funding for their eligible COVID-19 expenses, while also ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately,” Mullin said. “This was an unprecedented event, and we are aggressively working to close out outstanding COVID-19 projects since it has dragged on for far too long.”
The agency said funds will be distributed through FEMA’s Public Assistance program and will support 75 COVID-19 projects across the country. The money will be disbursed to states, territories and health care facilities, the agency said. Additional projects will continue to be evaluated for reimbursement.
Reimbursements included more than $91 million to Mercy Health Springfield Communities in Missouri for contracted labor from health care staffing; more than $45 million to Integris Health in Oklahoma for the purchase of personal protective equipment, signage and medication and the rental of hospital beds, medical equipment and other items for COVID-19 patients; and more than $34 million to the South Georgia Medical Center for temporary medical staffing, supplies, COVID-19 tests and vaccines and other items.
The agency said it remains focused on closing out pending COVID-19 projects and that it will continue to work with Public Assistance applicants to confirm claimed activities meet eligibility criteria.