The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will begin distributing $10 billion in funding to hospitals that have been impacted by COVID-19, starting next week.

The second round of funding is provided through the Health Resources and Services Administration and is designed to help hospitals deal with “financial hardships” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

HHS said it “recognizes the need to quickly get these funds to frontline healthcare providers.”

“The top priority for HHS’s administration of the Provider Relief Fund has been getting support as quickly as possible to providers who have been hit hard by COVID-19,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar, said in a statement. “Because we’ve carefully targeted support, we can make payments to areas most in need as the pandemic evolves, like we are doing with this round of funds.”

HHS notified all hospitals about its plan on June 8, requesting that they submit data on their COVID-19 inpatient admissions from Jan. 1 to June 10. This information will be used to determine their eligibility and funding amount.

Funding will be paid as $50,000 per eligible admission to hospitals with more than 161 COVID-19 admissions during the time period or those hospitals that experienced a “disproportionate intensity” of COVID-19 admissions.

HHS said it expected the funding to provide aid to more than 1,000 hospitals across the U.S. with payments starting as soon as Monday.

The agency’s first round of funding for hospitals totaled $12 billion. A total of 395 hospitals received the funds. Funding was provided in the amount of $76,975 per eligible admission for hospitals with 100 or more COVID-19 admissions from Jan. 1 to April 10.

High impact states such as Texas received $377 million in the first round of funding while Washington, once an epicenter of the virus, received $69 million. California and Florida received $554 million and $286 million, respectively.

A total of $175 billion in relief funds has been dedicated to hospitals and other healthcare providers that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic through the CARES Act, the paycheck protection program and the Health Care Enhancement Act. HHS said it will continue to evaluate the need for relief.

The U.S. reported more than 3.6 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with more than 138,000 deaths from COVID-19 as of mid-afternoon Friday, according to John Hopkins University.

Dr Giselle Sanchez attends to a COVID-19 patient in Panama where 20 percent of people that catch the coronavirus end up in hospital, and five percent in intensive care
Dr Giselle Sanchez attends to a COVID-19 patient in Panama where 20 percent of people that catch the coronavirus end up in hospital, and five percent in intensive care AFP / Luis ACOSTA
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