The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $5.1 million to the State of Rhode Island to reimburse Kent Hospital for the cost of contracting for additional staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a release issued last week..

The $5,146,926 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the community teaching hospital in Warwick affiliated with Care New England for contracting for additional staff to handle increased patient loads associated with COVID-19 between October 2020 and June 2022.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Kent Hospital with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich in the release.. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic fight is critical to their success, and to 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.

This grant brings the total awarded by FEMA to the State of Rhode Island to almost $799 million to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.