David Silvernale, the CFO of Minneapolis-based MNGI Digestive Health, spoke with Becker's ASC Review on his company's plan for new endoscopy centers and adjusting to colonoscopy backlogs.
Question: How is your facility eyeing growth in the next year?
David Silvernale: We continue to see an increase in demand for high-quality endoscopy procedures performed in our ASCs. This has resulted in the development of two new four-procedure room endoscopy centers that will open in 2022. These centers will provide additional capacity to meet the demand for services that continues to increase due to the lowering of the recommended CRC screening age and value based and shared savings contracts. This has led to the potential for partnership opportunities with local health systems that continue to look for ways to lower the total cost of care and free up their hospital surgical space for services that are appropriate for the site of service. We are also currently looking for the appropriate space to add an additional endoscopy center in 2023.
Q: Have the recent COVID-19 surges disrupted your growth plans? Why or why not?
DS: The deferment of elective procedures such as screening colonoscopy that occurred during COVID-19 has created a backlog of procedures that could take years to recover from. This, combined with the lowering of the CRC screening age and attention to site-of-service to lower the total cost of care, has created confidence for the organization to continue to grow through additional physicians and the ASC space for them to work. In addition, as we design new facilities we are paying strong attention to the learnings of infection control, air quality and patient flow that will become part of the new normal post-COVID-19.