MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland County Commissioners Court approved approximately $2.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds Monday for Midland Memorial Hospital.
“As a community, we're all in this together, and the hospital has been there since day one helping all of us, whether we have it, catch it or don't have it, that's our loved ones," said Terry Johnson, Midland County Judge. "They're there for all of us, so we need to stand up and be there for them."
CEO of Midland Health, Russell Meyers, spoke to the court about what the funds will be used for.
“To help us provide premium pay for our workforce," said Meyers. "That includes things like bonuses for employees for the work they've done during the pandemic, extra pay for people working directly with COVID-19 patients and also to help with the extraordinarily high cost of contract labor we have to use."
Last month, Midland City Council approved the same amount, which split the cost of the funds needed for the hospital between the city and county. The hospital will receive a total of around $4.7 million to help the staff in what have been trying times.
"We were asked for the other half, so today the commissioners court approved that to make it available to the hospital," said Johnson.
The court voted 3-1 in favor of the motion, with one abstention.
“To all the people that work in midland in any kind of part of the medical field, we really appreciate what you do and we are so thankful,” said Randy Prude, Commissioner for Precinct 4.
Meyers expressed the hospital's appreciation for all the support and funding.
"We appreciate the community's support," said Meyers. "Both the city and the county have stepped up and used some of the federal funding they got to help us with our staff during this COVID crisis, and that's very much appreciated."