KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With a little more than two weeks to spare, the Jackson County Legislature has finished allocating the last of the nearly $122.7 million it received in CARES Act money.
The county offered a final breakdown Monday of the allocations, which had to be expended by Dec. 30 or returned to the U.S. Department of the Treasury based on federal guidelines.
Truman Medical Centers/University Health received $32.4 million to help treat COVID-19 patients and equip clinics, hospitals and staff to handle the pandemic.
More than $40 million was distributed to cities and towns in Jackson County for a variety of municipal programs to combat COVID-19 and the collateral damage the pandemic has caused.
That includes money for emergency workers and things like utility assistance programs.
For instance, Independence, which recently restarted its municipal health department, also received $3.1 million for testing and its utility assistance program.
KCMO also received $1 million for a grant program to help households impacted by job loss and small businesses hurt by emergency orders.
The Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri, health departments received a combined $24.9 million for testing, contact tracing and staffing.
Community health centers — including Swope Health Services, KC CARE and Samuel U. Rodgers — received $5.6 million.
Public schools in Jackson County received $5 million to help enhance networks delivering remote learning and ramp up COVID-19 testing.
“Our health care professionals, cities, schools and partner agencies have faced so many challenges and hardships this year,” Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. said in a statement. “It’s gratifying to be able to provide the resources to help them get through this difficult time.”
Congress passed the CARES Act in late March and Jackson County received its appropriation in May from the state.
More than $150 billion was allocated to states for non-budgeted expenses that arose due to the public health emergency.
“I am thankful to the County Executive and his administration, the Jackson County Legislature and to our city leaders for the work they have done to ensure all of Jackson County would benefit from the relief funds,” Jackson County Legislature Chairwoman Theresa Galvin, who represents the 6th District, said in a statement. “This COVID-19 health crisis has affected all of our residents, businesses and communities in a variety of ways. I hope that by distributing these funds and working closely with our partners that our community can begin to return to normalcy as safely and sensibly as possible.”
