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As COVID-19 spread across the United States, some surgery centers stopped most elective surgeries, sometimes repurposing their space to take emergent cases or turning operating rooms into critical care units to accept overflow from nearby hospitals. Others did what they could to survive during the pandemic. Now that many places have gone through a surge of COVID-19 cases and some governors have begun to lift stay-at-home orders, the question for surgery center leadership is: When and how should we resume normal operations?
At the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City, everything changed around mid-March, when the facility closed because of the COVID-19 crisis. The first four weeks since HSS closed to elective surgeries were a time of dizzying change.
As the first cases of COVID-19 started emerging across the United States, surgery center leaders had to make tough choices about whether to close, carry on as normal, or modify operations to help treat an expected surge in infected patients.
After deciding what their operating model would look like during the COVID-19 crisis, surgery center leaders had to determine appropriate staffing levels — furloughs, layoffs, or fewer hours. Additionally, administrators had to decide whether to ration precious personal protective equipment and other supplies, or loan this materiel to frontline facilities in desperate need.
Facing the crucible of the COVID-19 crisis has been an unprecedented challenge, but it also has allowed surgery center leaders to take a closer look at areas for improvement so they can handle future emergencies better.
Billions of dollars of relief funds have been made available to healthcare entities affected by COVID-19. Learn more about how to access those funds and what to expect from future aid packages.
In the United States, the way more than 50 million surgical procedures are handled annually is bound to transform after the pandemic ends. There are bound to be sweeping changes, and the industry needs to be ready.
The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) has asked for states to lift barriers to full utilization of nurse anesthetists. The COVID-19 crisis gave the AANA an opportunity to show the benefits of lifting physician supervision statutes, as a dozen states made temporary changes during the pandemic.
Infection prevention likely will be a higher priority activity and quality improvement project for surgery centers as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to flare over the next year. There are various resources leaders should consider to help in these endeavors.
Relias Media is offering free, unlimited access to our COVID-19 related content to help healthcare professionals stay up to date and respond to the pandemic. Click here to access our COVID-19 resource page!
Financial Disclosure: Editor Jonathan Springston, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Author Melinda Young, Author Stephen W. Earnhart, RN, CRNA, MA, Physician Editor Steven A. Gunderson, DO, FACA, DABA, CASC, RN, CRNA, MA, Consulting Editor Mark Mayo, CASC, Editorial Group Manager Leslie Coplin, and Nurse Planner and Accreditations Director Amy M. Johnson, MSN, RN, CPN, report no consultant, stockholder, speaker’s bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.
