BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1.4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse it for the increased cost of cleaning at state-run health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The $1,401,885 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the cost of contracting for daily cleaning and disinfection of state-run medical facilities between July 2020 and January 2021 to allow them to safely operate in a pandemic environment.

 

The four facilities were the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Tewksbury Hospital, Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton and Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield.

 

"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 $1.6 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.