BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $3 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the Executive Office of Health and Human Services for the costs of providing virtual triage services for hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The $3,056,275 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the commonwealth for contracting to provide virtual triage to reduce transmission that could occur if triage were to occur in crowded, in-person hospital settings between March 2020 and February 2021.

 

The contractor also provided dissemination of information to the public across Massachusetts regarding guidance about the individual's risk of having contracted COVID-19; and provided dissemination of public health information from federal and state agencies.

 

"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 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."

 

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 $1.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.