Becker's ASC Review

36 JOINT VENTURES Surgery center grand opening canceled due to coronavirus By Angie Stewart W infield, Kan.-based William Newton Hospital canceled a surgery center opening ceremony scheduled for March 8 after the state confirmed its first case of COVID-19 and braced for a second, The Wichita Eagle reports. WNH decided to post a virtual tour of the H. L. Snyder Medi- cal Foundation Surgery Center on social media instead of hosting a grand opening ceremony, where U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., was slated to speak. The cancellation was intended to limit possible exposure to the new coronavirus. The H. L. Snyder Medical Foundation Surgery Center is the first of six phases in WNH's master facilities plan and capital campaign. Featuring an orthopedic operating room, pre- and postoperative care units, and a cardiac catheterization lab, the surgery center served its first patient Jan. 15, according to the Courier Traveler. On March 7, Kansas confirmed one case of the coronavirus in Johnson County. A second case was suspected as of March 8 in Cowley County, where WNH is based. The suspected case is pending test results. n Staying in business during the COVID-19 crisis: 5 key strategies By Angie Stewart T he American Medical Association shared sev- eral strategies for keeping a medical practice in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five strategies to know: 1. Establish a rapid process — as well as a clear chain of command — for decision-making and planning. 2. Determine whether your insurance policy covers COVID-19-related losses, and document all losses and expenses to make a claim. 3. Develop a financial contingency plan based on estimates of the minimum cash flow needed to stay afloat. 4. Proactively communicate with vendors, landlords and creditors in the event that a business slowdown could trigger a default situation. 5. Consolidate essential administrative and coding re- sources into a single document for remote workers. n Surgery Partners Q1 revenue up 5.8%, received $45M in CARES Act funding: 6 details By Laura Dyrda S urgery partners reported revenues were up in the first quarter based on the company's success before the pandemic hit. Six things to know: 1. Surgery Partner's first quarter revenue jumped 5.8 percent year over year to $441 million. Same-facility revenues were also up slightly during the quarter. 2. Net loss attributable to common share- holders was $37 million and adjusted EBITDA decreased 8.3 percent year over year to $46.5 million. 3. Surgery Partners reported $194.6 million cash and cash equivalents to end the quarter aer drawing down its full capacity under its revolving credit facility on March 18. e company amended its credit agreement, which it disclosed on April 22, to provide increased flexibility. 4. As of April 7, Surgery Partners reported it has received around $45 million in funding from the CARES Act in direct grant pay- ments as well as $120 million in accelerated payments from the Medicare Accelerated and Advanced Payment Program. 5. At the end of the quarter, Surgery Partners reported 127 surgical facilities, including ASCs and surgical hospitals, that performed 115,552 procedures. is is up from the first quarter of 2019 when the company reported 123 centers that performed 123,900 cases. e average adjusted revenue per case was $3,900, up from $3,429 over the same period last year. 6. Same-facility cases dropped 8 percent in the quarter while revenue per case grew from $3,138 to $3,497. During the first quarter earnings call, Mr. DeVeydt reported that case volumes dropped by around 75 percent at some facilities that were reduced to one or two days of opera- tion per week to serve only the most critical patients. "Our team quickly mobilized to the task at hand, reducing facility-level over- head, slowing capital distributions while tightly managing working capital," he said, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha. "But know that this team reacted swily, decisively and responsibly to preserve our business and liquidity" He also said the company's physician recruit- ing efforts over the past two months "have yielded strong results" and its pipeline for future acquisitions and partnerships with providers, patients and payers is still robust. Surgery Partners did report workforce reduction, particularly at the corporate level, and converted salaried workers to an hourly rate. It also engaged in furloughs and reduced pay for some top executives by 50 percent; it also reduced the salary of a major- ity of corporate employees by 20 percent. e company has now restarted elective pro- cedures at centers in California and Florida, which represents around 15 percent of the company's revenue. n

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