Baker pledges $800M to support healthcare efforts

April 14, 2020 | Danielle Eaton and G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

A spokesperson for Mercy Medical Center stated they did not know how much of Gov. Charlie Baker’s promised $800 million would be allocated to the hospital.
Reminder Publishing photo by G. Michael Dobbs

GREATER SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Charlie Baker announced at a briefing last week the Commonwealth would be allocating almost $800 million to hospitals, nursing facilities and other healthcare providers.

Local medical centers, though, had little to say about how much money they would get or when it would arrive.

A spokesperson for Mercy Medical Center told Reminder Publishing, “We have not yet received official notice of the exact amount of the financial assistance Mercy Medical Center will receive. We are still analyzing the proposal to determine the financial impact.”

The statement from Holyoke Medical Center was, “We have no comment and are not releasing any information about the state funding at this time.”

Baystate Health’s spokesperson said, “We haven’t received word yet.”

Baker said at his briefing, “In every corner of the Commonwealth, doctors, nurses and medical workers have been stepping up on our behalf in unprecedented ways in the past few weeks.

“At the same time, organizations that employ these folks have had their operating models totally disrupted by both COVID-19 and also many of the decisions and the orders that we issued to make sure that we are properly prepared for the surge. The result to many of our healthcare provider organizations has been a huge hit to their operations and to their cash flow. To make sure these organizations can continue to operate and continue to meet the astronomical demands that we are placing on them, we plan to invest $800 million into the Commonwealth’s healthcare providers.

“This funding will support hospitals, nursing facilities, primary care providers, behavioral health providers and long-term service providers and support for other providers impacted by COVID-19 and the health emergency and many of the declarations, orders and decisions that we’ve made and issued. 

“More than $400 million will be allocated to hospitals, more than $80 million will go to nursing facilities and more than $300 million will be allocated to other healthcare providers that are delivering medical care or providing services that keep residents safe in their homes and out of the hospitals.

“They will be distributed starting this month, April, through July. We were able to pull this critical funding together, largely through offsets, by reductions in MassHealth, enhanced federal revenue, and we want to thank our colleagues in the Legislature who we engaged in a discussion with this prior to making this announcement and going forward with this proposal.

“The funding comes in addition to the $290 million in immediate cash relief and $550 million in accelerated payments to providers that we announced earlier in March.

“As we continue to navigate these unprecedented times, our administration will keep doing whatever we can to support the healthcare workers who are keeping us all safe.”

In comparison, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded community health centers (CHC) in Massachusetts over $36.5 million to assist in combating the COVID-19 outbreak.

The funding was awarded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Warren said, “Community health centers in Massachusetts and across the country serve the most vulnerable among us and are on the front lines of this public health emergency. While this new funding will help our CHCs as they confront this pandemic, I'll keep fighting to ensure that they have the resources and equipment they need to continue testing and caring for patients during this unprecedented crisis.”

In Hampden County, the allocations went to the city of Springfield –  $568,340; Holyoke Health Center, Inc. ­–  $874,625; and Caring Health Center, Inc. in Springfield –  $845,570.

The Community Health Center Of Franklin County, Incorporated in Greenfield received $633,740, and the Community Health Programs, Incorporated in Great Barrington received $981,530. These two organizations were the only others west of Worcester to get an allocation.

Baker also said, “Yesterday we launched a nursing home family resource line, a dedicated telephone line that will connect families members of nursing home and rest home residents with information and resources that they need.”

The line is staffed seven days a week and the number is 617-660-5399.

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