Engel Leads Effort to Secure $5 Billion for NY Hospitals

Statement

Congressman Eliot Engel helped secure $5 billion in funding from the CARES Act for New York hospitals, five times more than any other state, in the most recent round of funding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The CARES Act created the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSEF) to support health care providers such as hospitals treating coronavirus patients. In the first round of funding, the Trump Administration failed to allocate funds based on states' public health needs, leaving New York, the epicenter of the outbreak, without much federal support.

On April 15th Congressman Engel, along with Representatives Tom Suozzi and Pete King, led the New York Congressional delegation in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar demanding that the Administration adjust its allocation process of PHSSEF to provide states with the greatest need the most funding. The Members' advocacy worked, resulting in New York receiving the greatest amount in hospital funding from PHSSEF in the last distribution.

"New York hospitals, nurses, doctors, and health care workers deserve to be at the front-of-the line when it comes to federal COVID-19 support," Engel said. "The work our health care providers have done during this pandemic is nothing short of heroic. Sadly, the Trump Administration was not prioritizing New York's needs and action needed to be taken to rectify the problem. Thanks to our advocacy, New York was the largest recipient of CARES Act hospital money in the latest round of funding, and we're working hard to ensure more is on the way. I thank my colleagues Reps. Suozzi and King, and the entire New York delegation, for standing with me in the fight to protect New York."

Congressman Engel also led the New York delegation in securing $76 million from the CARES Act for the state's community health centers, including $5.8 million for Hudson River Healthcare and $2 million for Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center in NY-16.

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