“We accommodated surgical cases that normally would go to a hospital but could not because of care services and beds allocated for COVID-19 patients,” Guinane says. “We quickly pivoted to help, retool- ing our ASC’s policies to ensure we created a safe environment.” SurgCenter of Western Maryland in Cumberland closed its operations for a month in spring, but the work for the ASC never ceased. “We coor- dinated with UPMC to transfer our personal protective equipment (PPE) to help them get ready for our com- munity’s surge of COVID-19 cases,” Reddy says. “We maintained com- munication with the health system’s C-suite to know what we could do going forward as we monitored the number of positive tests, admissions and other important metrics.” Even as his ASC began to resume operations, Reddy says his team remained prepared to provide the health system with any resources it needed. “We worked with them to prepare our ASC to be turned into a COVID-19 recovery unit, if nec- essary. We are ready to provide any staffing they require, including nurses, physicians and technicians.” That support goes both ways, Reddy says. His ASC has piggy- backed off the health system’s ven- dor contracts to secure PPE. The organizations also have coordinated COVID-19 testing. “UPMC has set up an outpatient testing facility for our patients through one of its urgent care facilities. This makes it much easier for our physicians to schedule patients for testing before surgery.” As information about the novel
coronavirus evolved and brought with it frequently changing rules and regulations, Blach says USPI and Baylor Scott & White leaders worked to ensure they were on the same page concerning next steps for the partnered facilities. This, he says, has been simplified thanks to daily
Strong governance plays a large role in creating an environment for success during such a period. With so much complexity, figuring out the nuances is critical for survival.”
—Carole Guinane, RN, Cedars–Sinai
communication and a cadence estab- lished with his counterpart at Bay- lor Scott & White, Scott Peek, senior vice president of joint ventures. This continuity between the orga- nizations has played a significant role in achieving a cohesive response throughout the pandemic, Peek says.
“With a great number of urgent sur- geries being performed at our joint venture facilities, clinical alignment is key. Our chief medical officer (CMO) is in constant contact with USPI’s CMO, whom we invited to our surgi- cal safety meetings and provided an equal seat at the table. It was impor-
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