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UG divides up $37 million in federal CARES Act grants

How is Wyandotte County spending $37 million of CARES Act federal funding?

Hillcrest Ministries of Wyandotte County, which operates Hillcrest Transitional Living, will receive a $60,000 grant to help homeless families in Kansas City, Kansas.

According to UG information about its grant application, the Hillcrest agency has already been spending $8,000 a month on housing homeless families since March 1, including funds for utilities, maintenance, insurance, case management and needs such as food, transportation, medical, day care and employment expenses. Through the end of the year, the agency plans to spend $80,000 to provide homeless families with a shelter.

Avenue of Life will receive $660,000 to work with 14 agencies to provide services to the community through the Impact KCK collaborative to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and repair the harm it has caused in the community, according to UG information about its application. Some of those agencies include Avance Community Center, Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City, Brothers in Blue Reentry, Village Initiative, and Workforce Partnership.

United Way of Greater Kansas City will receive $1.245 million for programs and services solely in Wyandotte County including rent and mortgage assistance; utility assistance; temporary housing; staffing for agencies; and an eviction attorney, according to Unified Government information. The money will go to agencies in Wyandotte County that are part of the United Way.

These were just three of the programs approved for funding on Monday night by the Unified Government Commission, in a special Zoom meeting. More than 80 applications for funding were received. The commission approved the recommendations from the UG CARES Act committee.

The $37 million was divided into $13,026,125 for public health; $18,004,781 for cities and counties; and $6,300,028 for education and nonprofit.

Nonprofit organizations in the community received $3.75 million of the $37 million. Food and housing relief were a significant part of the grants approved.

The funds were divided into municipalities, where funding went to the Health Department, public health projects and local governments; education; and nonprofit agencies. On Monday, a few of the nonprofit applications dealing with public health issues were transferred to the public health funding category.

Public health response grants totaled $2.19 million, according to Crystal Sprague, CARES Act Planning Team manager.

According to Sprague, the committee set aside $9 million to go straight into three priorities, improving the adaptability of taxing entities; growing requisite health and human services; and building community resiliency.

The committee received requests for more funding than it had available. Some of the reasons some applications were not funded included recommendations and scoring from the committee; the time needed to implement the project; and what was considered eligible for CARES Act funding based on the guidelines from the federal and state government.

Bonner Springs will receive $780,400 and it listed reimbursements for its public safety payroll as an expense.

Edwardsville will receive $449,400. Reimbursements plus technology are listed as some of the Edwardsville expenses.

The Kansas City, Kansas -Wyandotte County government reimbursement was $3.8 million for personnel; and $1.09 million for contractual and commodity funding. The total is $4.9 million for reimbursement. The UG has tracked COVID-19 overtime and personal leave since the beginning of this event, according to Sprague.

The list showed direct aid by UG department that is planned from Aug. 1 through the end of the year. The city’s investment was listed at $6.3 million, while the county investment without the Health Department added was $6.5 million. The CARES Act team funding was about $453,000.

Many UG departments received funds. In addition, the Board of Public Utilities was listed at $1.354 million for technology expenses, according to the Aug. 10 agenda.

For education funding, the approved total was $2.67 million. The amount requested was $9.3 million.

Kansas City Kansas Community College received $900,000, when it requested more than $4 million. In response to a question from Mayor David Alvey about the allocation for KCKCC, Sprague said the committee looked at how many dollars of CARES Act funding each agency or organization had previously received. Also, each agency or organization received a score that determined funding, she said.

Commissioner Angela Markley, chair of the CARES Act Committee, said parts of the application were more closely aligned to the committee’s higher priorities for the CARES Act funding. Other parts of the college’s application were wonderful ideas, but were not all in the higher priority grouping, she said.

Also, the University of Kansas Medical Center made some significant requests, but was allowed significantly less, $200,000 in two grants under the education category. Commissioner Markley said there wasn’t enough funding to allocate to everyone, so the committee looked at applications, how they would affect residents and how they were aligned to the committee’s goals. The highest priority was protecting public health, she said.

There will be more money available for colleges through Phase 2 of the CARES Act funding process. This process is at the state level.

Commissioner Markley said the process has really been a marathon and one where the rules sometimes seemed to change daily. The committee was asked to distribute the $37 million in a very short time. The committee had an application and screening process. Committee members reviewed each application and scored them, she said.

The UG’s CARES Act staff will continue to track and monitor the allocations, Commissioner Markley said, and will report back to the UG Administration and Human Services standing committee regularly.

The applications were evaluated by the committee, with committee members scoring them according to a list of questions, according to Sprague.

The next step is for the applications to go to the state. The state will hold the final decision on CARES Act funding here, Sprague said.

Business funding now will be in Phase 2 of the CARES Act funding, which will be handled by the Kansas Department of Commerce, with an application online. Businesses and organizations will be able to apply for Kansas SPARK economic development and broadband grants starting at noon Wednesday, Aug. 19, at kansascommerce.gov/covidrelief.

The list of agencies and funding they received is online in the agenda for the 7 p.m. Monday special meeting, at https://www.wycokck.org/Clerk/Agendas.aspx.

A list of CARES Act grant recipients from the $37 million allocated to Wyandotte County was posted online on Aug. 12: Nonprofits, education and medical: https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/government/cares-act/documents/08112020caresactawarded.pdf

The amount of funds that governments and the Health Department were to receive are listed in the Aug. 10 special meeting agenda at https://www.wycokck.org/Clerk/Agendas.aspx.

To see a video of the Monday night meeting, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xqWaYe0zfw&feature=youtu.be.

To see an earlier story on this topic, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/wyandotte-county-committee-makes-recommendations-for-spending-37-million-in-cares-act-funding/.

Kansas could be at disadvantage for attracting talented doctors unless it passes Medicaid expansion, according to KHA executive

Wyandotte County reported an additional 19 cases from Sunday to Monday afternoon, for a total cumulative 4,915 cases, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. The number of deaths was the same, at 99 total. (From UG COVID-19 website)

Tom Bell, president of the Kansas Hospital Association, said Kansas may not be able to attract as many talented doctors if it doesn’t pass Medicaid expansion.

Bell made his remarks at a virtual news conference Monday morning through the University of Kansas Health System.

He noted that Missouri recently passed Medicaid expansion, leaving Kansas as an island surrounded by states that have passed the expanded insurance program for lower-income residents.

That means health care facilities and doctors in the other states may have better incomes because more patients can now pay for their health care, resulting in some prospective doctors choosing to go to another state where pay is better.

Herb Kuhn, president of the Missouri Hospital Association, said there are now 230,000 Missourians who will have medical coverage because of Medicaid expansion.

Bell said that people will be better served with Medicaid expansion.

“All the data shows that if you have insurance, you are healthier,” Bell said. ”That’s the bottom line.”

What Missouri has done is helped the people in their states and helped the hospitals, as well, he said.

“I hope that Missouri being the final contiguous state to adopt expansion will spur us on in the future,” Bell said.

Hospitals have received a triple whammy during COVID-19, he said.

Bell said they prepared and cared for COVID-19 patients; they experienced a 40 to 50 percent hit in volumes and revenue; and they are seeing a toll on mental and physical health now.

About 50 percent of hospitals are expected to have negative margins of minus 1 to minus 11 percent, he said. The CARES Act funding was extremely important and allowed hospitals to move along during the second quarter, Bell added.

Two hospitals in Kansas have closed, he said. They include one in Wellington and also, St. Luke’s Cushing Hospital in Leavenworth. Both closures had at least some relation to the COVID-19 situation, he added.

“We have seen in our state a bit of leveling off. We’ve seen a reduction in the number of hospitalizations per infection,” he said.

Doctors have done a good job in taking care of people, and there has been a reduction in deaths, a testament to health care providers, he added.

Telehealth has been a good result from COVID-19, and it may have advanced by a decade, according to Bell. Another benefit has been the recognition of the importance of public health, and that public health departments have been underfunded in the past. Also, there is now a recognition of a need to produce supplies such as personal protective equipment and pharmaceuticals in our country to be better prepared in the future, Bell said.

Kuhn also mentioned addressing disparities in the health care system, and a renewed interest of people who want to pursue a career in health care now.

Doctors were concerned about an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System.

Monday was the 100th news conference program offered about COVID-19 by the KU Health System.

The KU Health System reported 31 COVID-19 patients being treated at the hospital on Monday morning, up from 23 on Sunday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System. Ten of the patients were in the intensive care unit, and eight of those patients were on ventilators, according to Dr. Hawkinson. There was one fewer patient in the ICU than on Friday and the same number on ventilators as Friday.

Wyandotte County reported an additional 19 cases from Sunday to Monday afternoon, for a total cumulative 4,915 cases, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. The number of deaths was the same, at 99 total.

Free testing offered

Free COVID-19 testing is planned from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

The pop-up test is offered through Vibrant Health and the Health Equity Task Force.

Free testing also is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.

The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/870315336826271.

For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.

The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Local agencies, including BPU, continue dealing with COVID-19 and its challenges

On Sunday, Aug. 9, the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage reported cumulative 4,864 positive COVID-19 cases, an increase of 32 from Saturday. There were no additional deaths; the cumulative number of deaths stayed at 99.

An electronic sign over State Avenue near The Legends Outlets and Kansas Speedway tells motorists, in Spanish and English, “Protect Yourself. Wear a Mask in Public.”

The Board of Public Utilities reported at its meeting on Wednesday night, Aug. 5, that it had six positive COVID-19 employees still in quarantine, with 17 total employees quarantined.

Eleven of the 17 are in self-quarantine because of possible direct exposures, whether at home or at work, according to Dennis Dumovich, with human resources at BPU. He gave a COVID-19 update at the BPU’s regular meeting, held on Zoom Aug. 5.

So far, the BPU has had 10 positive results for employees, with 98 total employees who have been quarantined for different reasons, including potential direct exposure at work or home, or people who have gone on vacation to hotspot areas, people who are caring for a family member who is ill, or people who have underlying health conditions not allowing them to come to work, according to Dumovich. They have recently seen a little spike in their results, he added.

He said the BPU has performed pretty well during this COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been very lucky, and because of the precautions taken, there was not any positive spread in any of the departments.

BPU General Manager Bill Johnson said at the meeting they have been discussing making a few modifications for COVID-19. These include staggered shifts, rotations and other modifications, he added.

The BPU is fully compliant with the mask order, he said, with employees wearing masks while at work and also social distancing.

They also have been discussing the potential effect of schools starting a little later than normal, and its effect on the staff needing time off, he said. They will be trying to adjust around the start of local schools to accommodate employees, he added.

BPU officials met last Tuesday with Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer of Wyandotte County. Johnson said they had a few questions about when people need to test.

There have been some rules that changed about testing from the national, state and local levels, he said. Johnson said the BPU is properly aligned with all the orders coming from the health department, and continues to be sensitive to the need to protect everyone, to stay in touch with the health department, to keep all protections in place and keep BPU employees safe.

Dumovich said, in answer to a question from board member Mary Gonzales, that formerly the BPU required employees who had a direct exposure to a positive patient to go into self-quarantine, get tested and if the test was negative, return to work.

As of July 23, the health department standard practice changed to if an employee has a direct exposure and tests negative, he will stay quarantined for 14 days after the date of that test. He said the health department does not want the person to get another test to return to work after the 14 days.

That’s because after 14 days the patient can no longer transmit COVID-19, according to health officials. Even though COVID-19 patients can’t transmit it, they may show up positive if they get tested again, he said. So the health department no longer recommends that the patient must have a negative test before returning to work, he said.

Dumovich added that the BPU may have to bring up that issue with employees’ physicians who are not used to treating COVID-19 patients, and the health department doctors have offered to write letters in those cases, stating that they don’t want the employees retested.

Extension office closes to public for two weeks because of COVID-19

The Wyandotte County Extension office has closed to the public for two weeks because one staff member was exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement made on Monday, Aug. 3.

The staff now is working remotely until Monday, Aug. 17, according to the announcement, and the public may reach staff by phone and email, with contact information at www.wyandotte.ksu.edu, or the Extension office Facebook page, www.facebook.com/wycoksre.

The Extension office on North 79^th was a polling place on Aug. 4. The Wyandotte County election commissioner said this COVID-19 case had no effect at all on voters because the Wildcat Room at the Extension office, where voting is held, had not been used by anyone recently.

On Sunday, Aug. 9, the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage reported cumulative 4,864 positive COVID-19 cases, an increase of 32 from Saturday. There were no additional deaths; the cumulative number of deaths stayed at 99.