New York health centers get $5.2 million to fight COVID-19

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday awarded $5.2 million to health centers in New York to address coronavirus issues as part of a nationwide $100-million grant program aimed at COVID-19.

Receiving grants will be 63 New York health center programs, more than half of them in New York City. The health centers will disburse the funds to their service delivery sites across the state, including several on Long Island. Each program will determine how to spend the money.

“These grants will help health centers, which know the needs and resources of their communities best, to play their part,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement about the grant program.

The awards will give health centers the flexibility to meet evolving COVID-19 needs, such as expanding screening and testing, purchasing supplies including personal protective equipment and providing safety education.

The $100 million in grants was included in the $8.3 billion emergency appropriation passed in early March to help enable federal agencies to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

HHS said it made the funding available to health center programs immediately because of the urgency of the situation.