The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Lowell General Hospital for the cost of contracting for additional nursing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $1,008,980 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the hospital – part of the Tufts Medicine health system – for the cost of contracting with two companies for 15 additional nursing staffers between September 2022 and May 2023.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Lowell General Hospital 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 more than $2.6 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.