ELY- Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital recently received nearly a quarter-million dollars in federal funding to continue their efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
The award, totaling $240,000, is through the American Rescue Plan. EBCH is one of 75 rural Minnesota hospitals selected for the Small Rural Hospital COVID-19 Testing and Mitigation Grant.
“EBCH will use these funds to defray the cost of purchasing new equipment for our lab that will help us with the COVID-19 testing process,” said Jodi Martin, Marketing and Communications team leader at EBCH. “Additionally, this funding gives us the resources to invest in supplies, equipment, and staff needed to utilize our new equipment to its fullest extent and be sustainable long-term. This equipment allows EBCH to be more self-sufficient, relying less on sending out cultures to reference labs.”
The grants, initially announced by U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, will be administered through the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Minnesota Department of Health.
The funds are intended to increase COVID-19 testing efforts, expand access to testing in rural communities, and expand the range of mitigation activities to meet community needs within the CDC Community Mitigation Framework.
Allowable activities for COVID-19 Testing and Mitigation SHIP funding include testing education, establishment of alternate testing sites, test result processing, arranging for the processing of test results, and engaging in other activities within the CDC Community Mitigation Framework to address COVID-19 in rural communities.
Martin added, “Regulatory changes are being made based on lessons learned throughout the pandemic. We believe that these operational changes will be permanent.”