BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will send more than $2.9 million to Massachusetts to reimburse Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) for the additional costs of operating safely and handling increased patient loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hospital will receive a total of $2,908,751 in federal funding through FEMA's Public Assistance grant program to reimburse some of the costs associated with operating in a pandemic environment between June and September 2020, including:
Setting up a temporary COVID-19 testing site in the hospital's parking lot and providing 17,044 tests;
Contracting for security, diagnostic/laboratory services, nursing labor, and ambulatory services; and
Converting a total of 48 additional rooms to airborne isolation rooms
"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Berkshire 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 nearly $867 million in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.
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North Adams Man Found Guilty of Murder
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On Friday, May 31 Tyler Sumner was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree and Possession of Ammunition without a Firearm Identification Card by a jury of his peers.
The trial was held in Berkshire Superior Court; Judge Flannery will schedule sentencing.
Tyler Sumner, age 30 of North Adams, was found guilty of murdering Stephanie Olivieri, age 37.
According to a report, in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 25, 2019, Pittsfield Police responded to 911 call reporting two masked men walking around 66 South John Street.
While in route, the responding officers heard several gun shots around the area of South John Street. When the officers arrived on the scene, they found a woman, later identified as Stephanie Olivieri, in her running car. Olivieri was gasping for breath and had blood running down the right side of her head.
The responding officers called for backup and began lifesaving efforts. Olivieri was treated by EMS on the scene and then transported to Berkshire Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. The Chief Medical Examiner found the cause of her death to be a homicide caused by wounds sustained from a bullet to her head.
Multiple individuals testified that they believed Tyler Sumner was targeting an individual living in the area of the shooting. They believe that Olivieri was not the intended target of the murder.
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