FEMA approves more than $3 million for Cox Medical Center COVID-19 response

July 10, 2020

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- More than $3 million in federal funding has been obligated to the State of Missouri on behalf of the Lester E. Cox Medical Center in Springfield to help reimburse certain costs associated with emergency protective measures taken in response to COVID-19.

On July 10, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) obligated the money to Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to assist with approved costs already incurred by Cox to establish emergency operations for patient care required by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This funding should help to offset some of the costs incurred by the Cox Medical Center as their staff have been working tirelessly throughout the response to COVID-19,” said Paul Taylor, administrator of FEMA Region VII. “The entire federal family will continue to push as hard as we can to assist Missouri in getting them the resources needed in our shared work to combat the effects of this disease.”

These funds were obligated under a major disaster declaration (FEMA-4490-DR-MO) approved for the State of Missouri on March 26. The disaster declaration authorizes reimbursement of eligible costs resulting from COVID 19-related emergency protective measures at a 75/25 percent cost share. The declaration also authorizes Direct Federal Assistance to help governmental entities and tribal nations with certain COVID actions that they cannot undertake on their own for various reasons.

Over the past several months, Cox Medical Center provided testing for, and treatment of, COVID-19 patients, while establishing triage centers outside of their facilities’ Emergency Departments to screen patients with symptoms. The centers also implemented in-place telemedicine screening to treat infected patients and reduce risk of exposures and further disease spread within the hospital. The Cox System redirected its own equipment and staff to support the response in addition to renting equipment and purchasing medical supplies such as isolation gowns, Nitrile gloves, polypropylene fabric disposable coveralls, impact-resistant splash googles and N95 masks.

Cox’s eligible costs for this project are $4.1 million. Under the PA program, FEMA will reimburse 75 percent of those approved costs, or slightly more than $3 million. The remaining 25 percent is paid by the grant recipient, generally a state government, a local government, tribal nation or qualified nonprofit organization.

In addition to this grant, FEMA has obligated another 20 projects amounting to nearly $3.2 million for jurisdictions and entities across the state. Funds represent the federal cost share for COVID-19 response-related work and services provided by the independent City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, as well as entities in Barry, Caldwell, Cass, Harrison and Jackson counties.



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