From January 19, 2022 post.
Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $48 million to provide for surge medical staffing at local hospitals and clinics in fighting the current Omicron variant surge largely responsible for record COVID-19 cases throughout Hawai‘i.
“This is great news for our severely overextended hospitals struggling with staffing shortages and health care workers closing in on two straight years of very difficult conditions as they continue to deal not just with record COVID cases but other often-deferred medical needs,” said Case, a member of the House Appropriations Committee responsible for the funding of federal government agencies, departments and organizations.
Last month, the state’s Department of Health—in consultation with health care facilities across Hawai‘i—submitted a formal request to FEMA for 700 clinicians to return to Hawai‘i if COVID-19 threatened to overwhelm hospitals in the islands, as it now is. Since then, the state’s request for surge medical staffing was updated to 955 clinicians to address the recent spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations because of Omicron.
Case said the FEMA award will also assist the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) to fund emergency protective measures as a direct result of the pandemic.
Original source can be found here.
