WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive $3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to offset costs related to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal funding was awarded to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) as reimbursement for implementing training and other safety measures at assisted-living, nursing, and rehabilitation facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, facilities that care for older adults and vulnerable populations have been particularly at-risk. This federal funding will help address the costs that have gone into ensuring that these long-term care facilities are as safe as possible for patients and staff,” said Durbin. “Senator Duckworth and I will continue working to provide additional federal relief for Illinois throughout this crisis.”
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“Ensuring that our front-line healthcare workers have the training and tools they need to safely do their jobs is critical, especially during this pandemic,” said Duckworth. “I’m glad this federal funding will help cover some of the costs already incurred by the COVID-19 crisis, and I’ll keep working with Senator Durbin to help make sure hardworking Illinoisans have the support and resources they deserve.”
This emergency funding will cover 75 percent of the cost of IEMA’s project in April 2020, where teams of public health and safety personnel were deployed to conduct PPE-usage training, facility inspections, swabbing, and other measures necessary to ensure assisted-living, nursing, and rehabilitation facilities were operating in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Illinois Department of Public Health guidance and directives on control, reduction, and management of COVID-19.
