The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending nearly $2.2 million to the State of Maine to reimburse Maine Medical Center in Portland for the cost of testing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $2,171,014 Public Assistance grant will go to cover the cost of screening and providing COVID-19 tests for staff between May 2020 and October 2021. The 637-licensed-bed teaching hospital and flagship facility for MaineHealth contracted to set up a web-based program with a COVID-19 screening questionnaire which required employees to complete and pass to be permitted to enter any facility for the day.
Employees who failed the screening questionnaire were then directed to get a COVID-19 test. The grant also covers the cost of testing 22,267 employees who failed screening protocols at Maine Medical Center’s hospitals, primary care clinics, and ancillary service offices.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Maine Medical Center 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.”
So far, FEMA has provided more than $116 million in Public Assistance grants to Maine to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.
Additional information about FEMA’s Public Assistance program is available at https://www.fema.gov/public-assistance-local-state-tribal-and-non-profit. To learn more about the COVID-19 response in Maine, please visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4522.