Becker's ASC Review

46 JOINT VENTURES How HCA plans to recover from COVID-19 — 4 quotes on the pandemic By Eric Oliver H CA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen discussed the company's future on an April 21 earnings call, transcribed by e Motley Fool. On the pandemic: "In general, the first 80 percent of the quarter was very similar to the growth we had experienced over the past two years and was a reflection of the momentum we had heading into the year. en, the effects of the pandemic begin to hit us in mid-March. … Like most things in our company, the basic approach was to find ways to maximize unique enterprise capabilities, leverage financial resources and further develop corporate relationships with others to support our hospitals." On moving forward: "I say with confidence that we will get back to normal in time, but we realize it may be a new normal. Fortunately, I see HCA Healthcare as uniquely positioned to help define the new normal and capitalize on new opportunities." On ramping up elective procedure capacity: "We won't immediately reopen with the existing capacity that we had in the middle of May. So we're determining ways to reopen our capacity very efficiently. We think this will result in some early consolidation of existing opera- tions until we get to the next phase. … We're hopeful that the reboot process will be accomplished across all of our markets by the end of the second quarter." On the difficulty of projecting the recovery period: "e recovery period is really difficult to determine at this point. We don't know what the full effects and the damage to the economy are going to be. We don't understand clearly what the uninsured levels are going to be. So we anticipate the effects to vary by market." n HCA suspends dividend, pulls full year guidance By Eric Oliver D espite posting $12.86 billion in first-quarter 2020 revenues, HCA Healthcare has felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking several measures to combat- related losses. What you should know: 1. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA's quarterly revenues were up from $12.52 billion in the first quarter of 2019 to $12.86 billion in the first quarter of 2020. The company also posted a net income of $581 million or $1.69 per diluted share over the same time period. 2. HCA recorded losses of $295 million on retirement of debt during the first quarter of 2020. 3. While same-facility admissions increased 0.6 percent in the quarter, same-facility equivalent admissions declined 0.4 percent year over year. 4. Same-facility outpatient surgeries declined 5.9 percent in the first quarter of 2020, which can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had 123 freestanding outpatient surgery centers in the first quarter of 2020. 5. HCA withdrew its financial forecast and suspended its quarterly dividend program because of the pandemic. The company took other steps including: • Implementing a pandemic pay program to provide salary support to employees who aren't getting their full pay; • Implementing cost-reduction initiatives; • Suspending its share repurchase program • Reducing capital expenditures • Taking out a $2 billion, 364-day term loan and requesting support through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act n How an Ohio ASC is restarting elective surgery By Laura Dyrda T aylor Cera, COO of Orthopaedic Surgery Center in Youngstown, Ohio, outlines how the surgery center plans to ramp up elective surgeries and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Question: What are your top priorities today during the pandemic? Taylor Cera: First off, it's to keep our staff and patients safe. We've developed policy and procedures based on recommendations from the state of Ohio and the CDC to ensure we are following proper protocols. Second, we've reached out to local hospitals to see how we could be of any help in assisting their efforts to combat this pandem- ic. Lastly, it's knowing our center's financial picture and being able to adapt during this time. Q: What are your plans to ramp up your surgical sched- ule again after the pandemic? TC: We've just begun opening back up the 'playbook' to some growth initiatives we were developing before this crisis. Continuing to expand some of our service lines and hiring additional nursing support for overnight stay coverage is back in our daily discussions. With what is to now come into the ASC market, we are having interest- ing conversations. Q: Where do you see opportunities to continue growing and evolving your center over the next 12-24 months? TC: Specifically, it will be total joints. We've already seen CMS make changes to their fee schedule before CO- VID-19 and we should expect more of this to come. n

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