BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending nearly $6.7 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science for the cost of testing students, faculty and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $6,674,333 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the private health sciences university headquartered in Boston for the cost of contracting to administer 322,759 tests at its Massachusetts facilities between July 2020 and July 2022.
The tests were used to promote the safe opening and operation of facilities at the Boston Campus’ Matricaria/White Building, the Worcester Campus’ Lincoln Square Academic and Student Center, and Worcester Campus’ Mechanic Street Building.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our institutions of higher education to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to their success, and to our success as a nation.”
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 almost $1.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.