BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will send more than $2.9 million to Massachusetts to reimburse Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) for the additional costs of operating safely and handling increased patient loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hospital will receive a total of $2,908,751 in federal funding through FEMA's Public Assistance grant program to reimburse some of the costs associated with operating in a pandemic environment between June and September 2020, including:
Setting up a temporary COVID-19 testing site in the hospital's parking lot and providing 17,044 tests;
Contracting for security, diagnostic/laboratory services, nursing labor, and ambulatory services; and
Converting a total of 48 additional rooms to airborne isolation rooms
"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Berkshire Medical Center with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation."
So far, FEMA has provided nearly $867 million in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has a "conservative" budget for fiscal year 2025 with a nearly 6 percent increase.
On Thursday, the commission approved a $6,640,005 budget for FY25, a $373,990 increase from the previous year. The spending plan saw less growth from FY24 to FY25, as the FY23 to FY24 increase was more than $886,000, or over 16 percent.
Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said there aren't any dramatic changes.
"This is very much different than a municipal budget in that it's not a controlling budget or a limiting budget," he said. "It is really just our best estimate of our ability to afford to operate."
The increase is largely due to new grants for public health programs, environmental and energy efforts, economic development, community planning, and the transportation program.
"We have a lot of grants and a lot of applications in. If any of those are awarded, which I'm sure there's going to be many of them, we would shift gears and if we have to add staff or direct expenses, we would," office manager Marianne Sniezek explained.
"But the budget that we have now is conservative and it covers all our expenses."
The budget was endorsed by the finance and executive committee before reaching the full planning commission.
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