Maine hospitals, long-term care facilities to share $25M in COVID relief funds

The Mills administration on Monday announced that it is awarding $25 million in coronavirus relief funds to help 14 hospitals and 96 long-term care facilities in Maine recover from the pandemic.

For some institutions, that recovery may be prolonged as the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention investigates COVID-19 outbreaks among staff members at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast.

Maine CDC spokesman Robert Long confirmed the outbreak investigations on Tuesday, telling Mainebiz via email that the agency is investigating five cases at Waldo General and nine cases at Maine Med.

The $25 million in relief funds announced Monday are being allocated by the state's Department of Economic and Community Development and Department of Health and Human Services, out of remaining funds from the Maine Health Care Financial Relief Program.

DHHS announced in May that unclaimed funds from the program would be available to support facilities that had documented financial losses from the pandemic between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. Health care facilities received notification letters last week about their awards.

DHHS and DECD previously awarded $5.1 million through the program in December to 53 health care organizations.

“This funding will help health care organizations recover from the pandemic so they can continue to provide high-quality care to Maine people,” said DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew. “The grants are part of unprecedented support for Maine’s health care system that not only recognizes its critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic but reflects Governor Mills’ commitment to make high-quality health care affordable and accessible for all Maine residents.”

Heather Johnson, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, added, "This grant funding recognizes the immediate needs of the health care industry and provides some financial relief for those who remain on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The departments awarded $12.5 million to eligible hospitals and $12.5 million to long-term care facilities based on demonstrated losses and, for long-term care facilities, licensed beds.

The average provider award was $227,272, with awards ranging from $2,861 to $1,054,201.

More than half, 56%, of potentially eligible organizations applied for funding. Of those that applied, 69% qualified for the payments. Monday's announcement did not specify which institutions will receive funds.

While additional facilities may have had pandemic-related losses prior to the program’s launch, other federal and state programs, like the Provider Relief Fund, Paycheck Protection Program and the Maine Economic Recovery Grants, had already offset those losses, according to the governor's office.

Regarding the latest relief awards, Maine Hospital Association President Steven Michaud said, “The doctors, nurses and many other caregivers at Maine’s hospitals have cared for thousands of sick, provided hundreds of thousands of vaccines and conducted too many COVID tests to count. Hospitals did not close their doors but they did suffer hundreds of millions in losses as a result of the pandemic. We appreciate this effort to provide some financial resources for the hospitals who have done so much.”

Angela Westhoff, president and CEO of the Maine Health Care Association, noted that the funds come at a critical time for long-term care facilities as they continue to provide quality care while combating COVID-19's delta variant.