A person wearing scrubs and a mask walks up a ramp at Maine Medical Center in Portland on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

Portland’s Maine Medical Center is slated to receive $2.2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse costs of testing its employees for COVID-19.

The grant will cover the costs that the hospital took on to regularly screen employees between May 2020 and October 2021, along with COVID tests that were required for employees during that period.

So far, FEMA has distributed more than $116 million in funding through grants to cover coronavirus-related expenses for Maine’s health care sector.

Those funds have provided emergency housing, personal protective equipment and a boost in unemployment funds.

FEMA also provided health care support to a number of hospitals across Maine, with medical personnel assisting at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and Aroostook hospitals in January and February.

Leela Stockley is an alumna of the University of Maine. She was raised in northern Maine, and loves her cat Wesley, her puppy Percy and staying active in the Maine outdoors.