By CHRISTINE HAINES
Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll Township is receiving an infusion of cash through the state’s Hospital Emergency Loan Program (HELP).
HELP provides short-term financial relief to hospitals.
“Several hospitals, including ours, have had reduced inflows of traffic, including elective surgeries and even emergency room visits,” said Andrew Bilinsky, a media specialist with Monongahela Valley Hospital.
State Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run, announced Thursday the hospital will be receiving the $15 million loan.
“This is excellent news for our district,” said Cook. “This funding is crucial to allow our doctors, nurses and those on the front lines of this pandemic to continue to provide quality care to our community during this difficult time.”
Bilinsky said the funding will be used to cover routine expenses until the hospital is able to begin generating additional revenues as it resumes elective surgeries under guidelines outlined by the state earlier this week.
“This is a short-term loan, with a very low interest rate, which provides working capital to cover costs including payroll, medical supplies and other expenses,” Bilinsky said. “We are grateful to the local legislature and Wolf administration for making this money available to help front line hospitals during these unusual times created by this pandemic.”
The funds will also ensure that Mon Valley and the other recipient hospitals have sufficient personnel, equipment and personal protective equipment on hand to meet both day-to-day needs and any influx of patients that may be caused by COVID-19 cases.
Bilinsky said that so far there has not been a surge of patients at the hospital due to the pandemic, which is good medically, but meant there was a reduced census at the hospital.
“We had to have so many beds ready for a surge, which hasn’t happened, or hasn’t happened yet,” Bilinsky said.
The funding was disbursed by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) and is being administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) through the Pennsylvania First Program (PA First).