Feds reimbursing Springfield Hospital $2.3M for COVID-19 expenses

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Springfield Hospital is slated to get more than $2.3 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds as reimbursement for personal protective equipment, medical supplies and contract labor related to the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to June 2022, according to a FEMA news release.

The 25-bed critical access hospital incurred expenses related to COVID-19 testing and medical supplies; personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, caps, shoe covers, safety glasses, medication transport supplies and non-touch thermometers.

In addition, the hospital also hired contracted workers to staff inpatient units and clinical areas, including registered nurses, licensed nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists.

“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 Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich said in the June 20 release. 

So far, FEMA has provided about $484 million in grants to Vermont to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.