FDIC responds to letter on hospitals’ financial concerns

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is “committed to monitoring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic” on the financial institutions it supervises, and “will not hesitate to take additional action to provide clarity and guidance, as needed," FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said yesterday in letter responding to the AHA.

The association last month urged the nation's primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions to prepare to take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise.

In a recent Revised Interagency Statement, the FDIC, Federal Reserve Board and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency “encourage institutions to work prudently with all borrowers who are or maybe unable to meet their contractual payment obligations due to the pandemic, including health care organizations,” McWilliams notes.

“Institutions have broad discretion to implement prudent loan modification programs, and the Agencies view these programs as positive actions that can mitigate adverse effects on borrowers due to the pandemic. In addition, the Revised Interagency Statement affirms that the Agencies will not criticize institutions for working with borrowers, including health care organizations, in a safe and sound manner. The Agencies also will not criticize institutions that mitigate credit risk through prudent actions consistent with safe and sound practices. The FDIC considers such proactive measures to be in the best interest of institutions, their borrowers, the community, and the economy.”