Hospitals in Maine will receive an additional $25 million from state coffers to help them continue to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report in The Portland Press Herald Oct. 20. Payments to individual hospitals were proportional to the amount of MaineCare revenue the hospital received prior to the pandemic.
The news comes just as COVID infections and hospitalizations are increasing in the state.
The funds are part of an overall $75 million-plus program from Maine’s supplemental budget and are designed to help with recruiting and maintaining staff. The new funding comes on top of just over $600 million in federal pandemic-related aid for the state's healthcare system.
The latest round of funds, approved by the governor and state legislature in April, comes as hospital admissions for COVID in the state are rising. The state reported 210 people in hospital with COVID as of Oct. 20, almost twice as many as late June.
"Hospitals are under unprecedented financial pressures related to inflation, labor shortages and the ongoing COVID pandemic," Steve Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association, said in a statement. "This influx of money couldn't come at a more perfect time and will help us to continue to care for both our patients and caregivers alike."