Massachusetts is receiving $5.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse the Cambridge Health Alliance and Cambridge Public Health Commission for the cost of hiring temporary staff during Covid-19.

FEMA announced the money in a press release on Dec. 14.

The total amount of the public assistance grant is $5,540,343. It’s reimbursement for the hiring of contract staff to respond to patient surges between April 2021 and June 2021.

“Reimbursing state, county and municipal governments — as well as eligible nonprofits and tribal entities — for the costs incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery,” Lori Ehrlich, Region 1 regional administrator at FEMA, said in a press release.

Cambridge Health Alliance is a health network affiliated with Harvard Medical School and serves communities north of Boston. During the pandemic, it hired temporary staff for its inpatient units, intensive care units, emergency departments, respiratory clinic, Covid testing facilities, pharmacy and laboratory.