help provide care at the county level.
Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center is trying to make the
best of a bad situation. On March 20, Florida's governor halted ASCs
from performing any elective surgeries. The center finished its few
remaining cases and closed completely on March 27. "We just have
skeleton staff, mostly admin and maintenance working," says Clinical
Director Nikki Williams, RN, CNOR.
The facility paid its staff two weeks' pay with intention to furlough
on April 3, but applied for a loan through the CARES Act, so the staff
will be able to stay on until May 15. "We're hoping to reopen by May
18, but it depends on the state allowing us to do elective cases," says
Ms. Williams.
Her facility continues to monitor the temperatures of all people
working in its buildings. The independent facility has a hospital next
door. "We're not sure if they will need to take over our building, so
we've been doing inventory on equipment and supplies if that event
occurs," says Ms. Williams.
MidHudson Regional Hospital in Pough-
keepsie, N.Y., less than 100 miles from New York City, has canceled all
elective outpatient cases. The nurses from the hospital's pre-op, PACU
and interventional radiology units have cross-trained so they can help
with COVID-19 cases in the ICU and medical/surgical unit, says Caryn
Solomon, MA, RN, director of nursing and perioperative services.
A P R I L 2 0 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 9
research that will ultimately help our center."
One nurse is using the time to repair, repaint and spruce up the
recovery area. "It's obviously not a nursing job, but it's something
he can do and it's something that needs to be done," says Ms.
Young. "You can paint and still practice social distancing."
— Outpatient Surgery Editors
