In May of 2021, the state received $1.6 billion from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The funds were to be used to respond to the state’s emergency needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s 2022. This is the third calendar year that we’re dealing with COVID. And that might sound terrible and kind of depressing, but it actually can be viewed in an optimistic, positive way. And the reason for that is if you look across the history of mankind and respiratory pandemics, typically respiratory pandemics become endemic, meaning that we learn to live with them or coexist with these infections, about the third year. And this is now the third year,” said Dr. Mark Mugiishi, president and CEO of HMSA.