Triangle hospitals receive millions in stimulus money

North Carolina providers received a total of $757 million from the main pot of money. The disbursements ranged from tens of millions of dollars all the way down to a few bucks. The top five recipients in North Carolina are as follows:

Duke University Health System- $47,998,634

Carolinas Medical Center- $47,622,001

UNC Hospitals at Chapel Hill- $40,682,698

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority- $40,608,546

Forsyth Memorial Hospital- $27,360,263

Locally, WakeMed and Rex Hospital each received over $22 million. The Atrium health system also received a total of $70 million for its four medical centers from another relief fund. Rural hospitals in our area also received much need cash infusions after they had to cancel elective surgeries, which are the lifeblood of their survival.

WRAL Investigates reached out to our local hospitals. UNC estimates its losses to date are $150 million, which doesn’t include money spent on coronavirus preparation. Duke estimates it’s losses at $200 million and again, does not include pre-pandemic costs. WakeMed says its losses for March and April are $45 million. However, that total does include the amount spent to prepare for potential surge in Covid-19 patients.

"We’re very appreciative of what the federal government has done," WakeMed CEO Donald Gintzig told us. Ginzig hopes the hospital can start getting back to somewhat normal operations now that it appears they won’t be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients. He said that starts with bringing back elective surgeries, "We curtailed those surgeries as most hospitals did. Now we’re re-engaging those patients and bring those patients back."