Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that the State of Tennessee will allocate $10 million in Small and Rural Hospital Readiness grants to support hospitals that are facing financial strain due to the ongoing response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release for Lee’s office.
“Small and rural hospitals are critical to fighting COVID-19 and these grants will help complement federal aid dollars to ensure hospitals can continue delivering care through this crisis,” Lee said. “These organizations not only provide care for existing needs but are also a key part of our efforts to build and maintain bed capacity during the expected surge of COVID-19 cases.”
The release said the funds, capped at $500,000 per hospital, will be allocated from the state’s FY20 COVID-19 response appropriation and distributed by the Department of Finance & Administration.
For participating hospitals, the grants will serve as a bridge over the coming weeks while elective procedures are suspended and new federal funds are still processing. Applications are live today and can be accessed at https://www.tn.gov/ecd/rural-development/small-and-rural-hospital-readiness-grant.
Due to the continually developing nature of the pandemic, the application will be held open for a month or until funds are expended, the release said.