​​​​COLUMBUS, Ohio — Coronavirus relief funds have enabled certain Ohio employers to upgrade indoor air-quality systems under a state program set to end Friday.

The Ohio COVID-19 Indoor Air Quality Assistance Program, administered by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, provides up to $15,000 in reimbursements to private employers licensed by four state agencies. 

Youngstown-based facilities management company Sodexo | Roth is upgrading clients’ air quality systems, and helping direct eligible employers complete necessary paperwork to take advantage of relief funds for the upgrades. 

Frank Cline, the company’s executive director of solution development, explained that they have been primarily contracting for two types of upgrades — ultraviolet purifying technology that’s installed within existing HVAC systems and portable units for filtering air in spaces, like classrooms or patient rooms. 

“With health care, we’ve utilized that technology over the years, and now with the pandemic, we were able to take that technology and offer that to our other clients, whether it's education, commercial office space, senior living or assisted living,” Cline said. 

According to Cline, the company has seen significant demand as well for higher-density filters in HVAC systems, which can catch smaller contaminants than the filters that may have been in place before.

The Ohio program is available to facilities licensed by the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Department of Aging, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. 

That means nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, hospices, senior centers, group homes and mental health treatment providers were among those eligible. 

With many Ohio employers, especially in vulnerable settings, using the program, Cline said Ohioans will be breathing cleaner air and facing reduced risk from viruses.  

Eligible employers can get reimbursed for expenses incurred from March 1, 2020 to Oct. 15, 2021. 

Many K-12 schools in Ohio also directed stimulus relief funds toward air-quality improvements, according to reports that districts submitted to the state.

Cline said Sodexo | Roth has long believed that improving indoor-air quality was about “quality of life,” but until the pandemic, employers weren’t necessarily contracting them for that reason. 

“Pre-pandemic, the main value that clients were looking for is energy savings and operational savings,” he said. 

Ultraviolet installation in HVAC systems can help reduce wear and tear on the mechanical equipment, keeping coils cleaner and possibly extending the lifespan of an expensive system, he said.

Now that facilities have an interest in enhancing their indoor air-quality systems due to mitigate the risks of COVID-19, and with the relief funds available in Ohio for some employers to do it, Cline said the phones have been ringing. 

“Clients don't have a lot of funding to begin with,” he said. “I believe a lot of them wanted to do this before, but I just don't think that funding was in place to do so.”