A group representing Florida's safety-net hospitals is calling on the federal government to provide additional relief aid to the state's hospitals, according to WJCT.
Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida CEO Justin Senior said hospitals in several other states have received more federal relief aid than those in Florida.
"[Florida] has not received as much per capita, has not received as much per hospital bed, has not received as much per COVID-19 case, as other states, and certainly nowhere near as much as the Northeast," Mr. Senior told WJCT.
Data supplied by SNHA showed Florida received about $622 million in funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. That is less than the amount received by Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania, which all have fewer confirmed COVID-19 cases than Florida, according to the report.
In July, HHS distributed $10 billion in funding to more than 1,000 hospitals in COVID-19 hot spots. The $10 billion, which was the second round of high-impact funding, was split among hospitals that had more than 161 COVID-19 admissions between Jan. 1 and June 10 or that experienced a disproportionate intensity of COVID-19 admissions.
Mr. Senior said many Florida hospitals missed out on the hot spot funding because they saw a surge in COVID-19 patients after the June 10 cutoff, according to the report.
Mr. Senior said the guidelines need to be revised to ensure hospitalizations after June 10 are considered when the remaining CARES Act funds are doled out.
"We just want to be treated fairly," he said.
Access the full WJCT article here.