and can be repaid over time.
"The CARES loan is for now and the accelerated CMS payments are
for when we re-open," says Mr. Poole. "Then we'll have to explore the
possibility of using FDA loans to avoid having to dip into our cash
reserves."
The past few weeks have seen a sharp drop-off in volume at most
surgery centers, reports Mr. Prentice, who says COVID-19 "has creat-
ed true economic harm and left facilities flat-footed right now in
terms of being able to provide care." He hopes the federal CARES Act
and the funding contained in it will be used to provide funding to sur-
gery centers immediately, so they can retain staff and pivot to these
new, volatile market and public health conditions, while also being
able to take care of patients who postponed elective surgeries once
restrictions are lifted.
"There are a variety of options available to get some liquidity from
the CARES act," says Mr. Prentice. "We just want to make sure all of
those options are available for surgery centers so they can get the
funding they need to stay open, and have the equipment and staffing
to be able to provide the care that we all know they're going to need
to provide as this pandemic worsens."
Greg DeConciliis, PA-C, CASC, is feeling the stress of an uncertain
economic future. "Not knowing when it's going to end is the worst,"
says the administrator of Boston Out-Patient Surgical Suites in
Waltham, Mass. "We won't be able to take care of our staff forever.
Then, when we do reopen, who knows if the elective procedures that
were postponed will get rescheduled by the patients. On the other
hand, we're also worried that if everyone does reschedule, we'll be
faced with a backlog of cases our facility won't be able to handle."
Ms. Hogan has contacted the firm that handles the regular mainte-
nance of her facility's fleet of endoscopes. With no cases being per-
2 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 2 0
