“Distribute as soon as possible the $100 billion designated in the [CARES] Act to assist health care providers as they deal head-on with the biggest public health crisis our country has faced in more than a century,” NASH asked Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a letter to Azar on Friday.

In the letter, the National Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals wrote of private safety-net hospitals tackling the COVID-19 crisis that

Hospitals and other providers need these resources – and need them in a very timely manner. Hospitals invested heavily in preparations for the challenge to come and are still paying for those and continuing investments at a time when their cash flow is at an historic low because they are no longer performing elective surgery, which provides a major portion of their revenue. Thus, hospitals need this money to pay our bills, to keep the lights on and the medical supplies coming in, and to pay our courageous caregivers.

See NASH’s letter to Secretary Azar here.