CarolinaEast Health System Receives $1.1 Million FEMA Grant for COVID-19 Pandemic Response
New Bern, N.C. – On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the State of North Carolina will receive $1,118,979.32 for the CarolinaEast Health System based in New Bern, N.C. The funds will be used for continuing emergency protective measures being taken at the hospital system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant will be used to reimburse the hospital system for the following expenses:
- Activating an Emergency Response center
- Converting patient rooms to isolate COVID patients
- Setting up triage tents outside of the hospital for screening
- Backfilling quarantined employees' positions
- Placing employees at entrances to carry out screening processes for visitors and patients
- Providing heat in the tents and speed bumps to prevent accidents
- Placing informative signs around the premises
- Implementing employee screening processes
- Providing iPads for patients to Facetime loved ones during isolation
Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) released the following statement in response to the grant.
"As a physician, I have been very impressed with our health systems' responses to COVID-19 in eastern North Carolina. I thank FEMA for supporting CarolinaEast Health System as they continue to fight this virus," said Murphy.