Sen. Schumer and US Rep Torres Persuade FEMA to Reimburse $1.19 Billion To NYC H + H

By Yehudit Garmaise
Sen. Majority Leader
Charles Schumer (D-NY), who said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) was “slow in reimbursing” NYC Health + Hospitals “for all the work they
did fighting COVID,” now will be providing H + H with a well-deserved $1.19
billion that the hospitals filed for back in 2020.
Mayor Eric Adams
explained that in its relentless fight against COVID, H + H has spent $2.2 billion,
however FEMA had been playing “a bureaucratic game,” to forestall
reimbursement.
“FEMA came up with some
crazy rules, such as one that said, ‘Well if you build a new building, we will
reimburse you, but if you used your existing buildings, we are not going to
reimburse you,'” said Sen. Schumer, who, along with US Rep Ritchie Torres (D),
who represents New York's 15th congressional district, “led the charge to call
FEMA, and shake them up.
“We heard just two days
ago that they are going to send New York City the full $1.19 billion. We leaned
on them, and the money is here, and we need it.”
Thankfully, Omicron is
less deadly that past waves were, and the hospitals are doing great jobs at
handling the surge, Sen. Schumer said, however the new variant is also causing
many unforeseen costs for the city: at the expense of other agencies.
The new variant “has cost
New York City’s public hospitals another $111 million, and that is going to go
up,” said Sen. Schumer about the latest bill the city has sent to FEMA, which
has yet to reimburse hospitals for the newest wave of COVID. “We need that
money now.
“We can’t have the mayor
telling other departments that the city has no money for them because the
hospitals are having so many emergencies.
“We are saying to FEMA:
no more delays. We can’t wait another two years."
"Omicron has posed
other problems from the other waves: particularly that we have lost so many
staff to Omicron,” said NYC H + H CEO Mitch Katz, MD, who explained that
approximately 25% of his staff is out sick. “So we have to focus on bringing in
outside staff, so the $111 million is being used right now to supplement
staffing so we can continue to run and make our mission happen.”
Holding up a sign that said, “FEMA: Get Ready, New York
is going to be asking you for more money: we need it,” Sen. Schumer said, “he
is always asking for money for New York.”
Mayor Adams reminded New
Yorkers that while the federal and the city governments are doing their parts
to fight COVID, New Yorkers have to do so as well: by getting vaccinated and
boosted.
“We know that
hospitalizations and deaths go up for everyone if you are not vaccinated,” the
mayor said. “Children who are not vaccinated are four times for likely to be
hospitalized. Parents: please do your part, so we can get through COVID, open
our city, and save the lives of our families.”