Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home received $2,048,000.00 in funding allocated by Health and Human Services (HHS) to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19), through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Signed into law March 27, the legislation is designed to help rural hospitals like Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home.

“Nathan Littauer would like to thank the efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer,” stated Michael Ostrander, Chief Financial Officer for Littauer.  He added, “We are grateful people are looking out for rural hospitals like Littauer. Our response to COVID is encompassing and comprehensive employing a tremendous amount of resources. From a financial perspective, we have done everything we can to support our medical team. We will continue to do so. However, a response to a global pandemic was not a part of our strategic plan. The CARES act gives us a needed injection of capital to continue our fight.”

Littauer believes the CARES Act is an important first step forward. However, we believe more will need to be done to support rural healthcare providers as we deal with the unprecedented challenge of this virus. We have endured unbudgeted healthcare related expenses and some lost revenues from halted elective surgeries. Many of our expenses are not reimbursed and are directly attributable to COVID-19. As we learn more about this virus, we understand we may still see a substantial patient surge of COVID positive patients.

Our goal as an organization is to remain independent while we serve this unique community. Most importantly, this funding will help the patients we gratefully serve. We would like to thank all entities involved with the CARES Act as we do our important work during this pandemic.