Kentucky healthcare providers to receive $52M in pandemic relief

Pandemic relief funding

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – The Department of Health and Human Services will distribute $52,321,524 in pandemic relief funding to 131 Kentucky healthcare providers through the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell announced on Wednesday.

The HRSA will distribute these funds as part of the Provider Relief Fund, which was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, better known as the CARES Act.

“Despite the arrival of vaccines and advanced therapeutics,” McConnell said, “many of Kentucky’s healthcare providers are still struggling to deal with the turbulence created by the COVID-19 pandemic and its emerging variants. I worked to establish the Provider Relief Fund to help these healthcare facilities recover financially from this crisis and am pleased that Kentucky providers continue to benefit from its assistance.”

He vowed to continue working closely with federal agencies, “to ensure Kentucky’s healthcare providers receive the government resources they require to recover fully. They have been on the front-line fighting COVID-19 for nearly two years and deserve federal support.”

McConnell secured a total of $178 billion for the Provider Relief Fund through several bipartisan COVID-19 relief packages he led to Senate passage in 2020. Last September, the senator also wrote a letter to the HHS secretary advocating for Kentucky’s healthcare providers to receive these funds.

Kentucky’s relief funding is part of a $2 billion payment to more than 7,600 healthcare providers nationwide, who have experienced revenue loss or expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the major health care groups in the state considers this welcome news. “The Kentucky Hospital Association, on behalf of all Kentucky hospitals, greatly appreciates the unceasing efforts Senator McConnell has put into securing funding for our hospitals,” said KHA President Nancy Galvagni. “The pandemic has played havoc with hospital finances and Senator McConnell’s help has been tremendous.”