ASC News

Hospitals nationwide are postponing elective procedures as COVID-19 surges are reaching record highs. 

Florida's law that bans businesses from requiring vaccination documentation is making it difficult for some ASCs in the state to be "compassionate as well as responsible."

South Georgia Medical Center has reopened a drive-thru coronavirus test site in the parking lot outside its surgery center in Valdosta, Ga., ABC affiliate WTXL reported Aug. 9.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has asked hospitals to voluntarily delay elective procedures in an Aug. 9 letter to the Texas Hospital Association, citing concern about a shortage of hospital capacity as COVID-19 surges throughout the state. 

Oneida (N.Y.) Health canceled some elective cases at its ASC Aug. 10-11 as its emergency room experiences an "unusually high number of patients," according to the Rome Sentinel.

The California Department of Public Health issued an order Aug. 5 requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated, citing increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state. 

New York state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Bronx, and Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, celebrated the start of ASC Month in the state, the first month for the state to hold this observance.

Seaside Surgery Center on Aug. 24 will host U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., for a tour of the facility and a chance to see the center's endoscopic surgery technology in action, the practice said Aug. 9.

The ASC industry has faced immense shifts in the past few years from the COVID-19 pandemic and overall healthcare consolidations, leaving leaders wondering how ASCs will adapt. 

Naples, Fla.-based NCH Healthcare System has postponed elective surgeries to make room for COVID-19 patients, Naples Daily News reported Aug. 9.