Author: Patsy Newitt

From a COVID-19 national emergency extension to CDC's potential new indoor mask guidance, here are six COVID-19 updates from the last two weeks. 

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, Universal Health Services, George Washington University and Children's National Hospital broke ground on a medical center with an ambulatory pavilion.

A medical office building housing an ASC in Vidalia, La., was sold for $13.3 million, Capital Real Estate Group, which represented the seller, said Feb. 23.

COVID-19 spurred a sharp increase in mergers and acquisitions, accelerating a trend of consolidation. By the end of 2020, nearly 70 percent of physicians reported being employed by hospitals or corporations. 

The average total cases performed by an ASC per day has jumped 10 percent since 2011, according to VMG Health's "Multi-Specialty ASC Benchmarking Study" for 2022.

A slew of lawsuits targeting the No Surprises Act and six more updates from the government from the last two weeks:

Wichita-based Kansas Surgery & Recovery Center is planning a $1.6 million outpatient expansion, Wichita Business Journal reported Feb. 22. 

Mayo Clinic is building a hospital connected to a cancer and surgery center in La Crosse, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported Feb. 22. 

Mesa, Ariz.-based Surgery Center Services of America has plans to open six ASCs in the next year, CEO Philip Blair told Becker's ASC Review. 

Boston-based Mass General Brigham's controversial $400 million plan to build three ASCs would bring lower-cost care to Massachusetts communities, John Fernandez, MD, president of Mass Eye and Ear, wrote in a Feb. 21 piece in Mass Live.