GLOVERSVILLE — Hospitals and healthcare systems across the state will receive $1.45 billion in federal funding as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced this week.

Locally, Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home will receive $2.04 million and St. Mary’s Healthcare of Amsterdam will receive $3.2 million from the CARES Act funding allocated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide relief to hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“Our hospitals and providers have been New York’s heroes in the fight against COVID-19, and these critical dollars will help keep the fight against the virus going strong,” Schumer said in a prepared statement announcing the funding. “New York and its hospitals have been on the frontline of the battle against the virus for over a month now and they are struggling. I will fight with everything I’ve got to get New York’s incredible healthcare workforce all the federal support they need to beat back this pandemic.”

The funding allocation to hospitals and healthcare systems is meant to address both the economic strain healthcare providers are facing while temporarily halting elective procedures and the added costs incurred in advance of and while caring for coronavirus patients.

Michael Ostrander, chief financial officer for Nathan Littauer, in a prepared statement issued Tuesday expressed gratitude for the relief funding as an important first step to support rural healthcare providers facing unprecedented challenges related to the virus.

“Nathan Littauer would like to thank the efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer,” stated Ostrander. “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.”

The statement issued by Nathan Littauer notes that the healthcare organization believes additional support for rural healthcare providers will be needed in the face of unbudgeted expenses incurred by providers while preparing to respond to the coronavirus and lost revenues while elective procedures have been temporarily suspended.

Most of these costs are not reimbursable and hospitals may still experience a surge of coronavirus patients in the future with multiple waves of the virus now believed likely to occur by healthcare experts.

Richard Hyde, director of marketing and communications at St. Mary’s Healthcare, on Tuesday expressed the organization’s appreciation for the funding allocation, adding that further funding would also be appreciated.

“We absolutely appreciate it, but in terms of it being adequate, it won’t even cover one month of the losses that we’re seeing because of the crisis,” said Hyde. “The recipe of expenses being up and volumes being down, any way you look at that, there’s going to be losses … Not just at St. Mary’s, but everywhere.”

Hyde noted that healthcare providers have faced unplanned costs to secure additional supplies like personal protective equipment that are being used and expended on a much broader scale while also preparing to meet new care protocols by converting hospital rooms to negative pressure rooms to isolate coronavirus patients.

At the same time, Hyde said providers are facing declining revenues as facilities have had to halt elective procedures and patient visits have been reduced as community members have heeded the call from healthcare experts to reschedule non-essential appointments at a later date.

“People still need access to the healthcare system when they need services,” said Hyde. “Our main concern is that people may be waiting too long to seek that treatment, St. Mary’s has really done a tremendous job to open different avenues for patients. Every one of our departments has opened telehealth options.”

Hyde noted that St. Mary’s continues to operate all on-site facilities for hands on care while offering tele-medicine options to conduct appointments by phone or video conference through every office, including the urgent care center and the emergency room.

“My message to community would be, if you have a concern don’t wait, calls are free, call in and seek advice,” he said.

Hyde said the CARES Act funding will be used by St. Mary’s to offset the expenses and declining revenues the organization and healthcare systems across the nation are now facing.

“We would absolutely be appreciative of additional funding,” he added.