PHOENIX – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema hosted a called with rural Arizona health care providers to discuss available coronavirus relief and thank them for their service during this public health crisis.
“Rural Arizona providers are critical to the health and safety of Arizonans in their communities, and I am thankful for their service. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospitals and health centers must get the resources and support needed to keep their doors open, continue caring for Arizonans, and save lives,” said Sinema.
Sinema recently urged immediate implementation of the CARES Act law to ensure that rural providers and hospitals receive the relief they need to keep their doors open and continue serving rural and underserved communities in Arizona.
Rural facilities in Arizona were already financially stressed before the pandemic. Their individual situations became all the more precarious with the need to purchase additional supplies and increase staffing to care for medically complex COVID-19 patients. Rural providers also lost a critical source of funding with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services urging all hospitals to delay elective procedures.
As part of the bipartisan CARES Act law, some health care providers will be able to apply for the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program, many will receive supplemental funding from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, and be able to receive advanced Medicare payments in the form of a loan through the existing Accelerated and Advance Payment Program.
Effective and immediate implementation of the CARES Act will provide rural Arizona health care facilities with much needed relief to keep their doors open.
Sinema has a resources page on her website, www.sinema.senate.gov/corona, for Arizonans looking for updated information in English and Spanish on the coronavirus.
