Working Together

NY ASCs collaborated to solve problems at the height of COVID-19

Although not in the most ideal circumstances, the COVID-19 pandemic did bring healthcare providers together. In the New York region, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), hospitals, and other healthcare organizations worked together to develop partnerships for common issues like COVID-19 testing, access to supplies, and even human resources-related concerns.

One participant in this collaboration was PE partner Endoscopy Center of Western New York. The center teamed up with local ambulatory surgery centers to push state legislators, perform more elective procedures in open counties, and secure critical PPE supplies and COVID-19 tests.

“If we didn’t have each other, this would have been a much different road,” Patricia Graham, administrator at Endoscopy Center of Western New York told Buffalo Business First. “Yes, they’re our competition, but we all have things we may need. It was great to have someone to lean on and share ideas.”

Time for Screenings

PE Partners had a successful Colon Cancer Awareness Month

To kick off Colon Cancer Awareness Month, PE partners participated in numerous ways to talk to the public about the importance of colorectal cancer screenings. With the coronavirus pandemic causing reduced rates in screenings for all types of cancer, this year’s Colon Cancer Awareness Month was particularly important. PE Partner C.P. Choudari, MD, of the Endoscopy Center at Robinwood sat down with The Herald Mail to debunk common colonoscopy myths and encourage people to schedule their routine screening. Dr. Choudari explained how preventable colorectal cancer is when caught early and why that makes it important for people to get screened. He also explained that the colonoscopy process is not nearly as difficult as it once was: “People are scared of the preparation. People are afraid of having pain. Those two things have been taken care of,” he told the newspaper.

Also encouraging people to get screened was William Stern, MD, FACG, of Capital Digestive Care (CDC). Dr. Stern appeared on ABC 7 (WJLA-TV in the Washington, D.C., area) to discuss the new HyGieaCare technology and the CDC HyGieaCare® Center in Rockville, Maryland. The CDC center is just the fifth center in the United States to offer this FDAapproved system. “It allows a patient to avoid taking the usual, standard oral prep, which makes them run to the bathroom all night … [and] instead they come in the morning of the procedure—about an hour and a half before … and just gently wash out their colon,” Dr. Stern told ABC 7 News.

Learn more about how PE participated in Colon Cancer Awareness Month at pegisolutions.com.

A Growing Impact

PE GI Solutions and Capital Digestive Care bring new partners to the team

This year has seen a lot of change, and that has been no different for PE GI Solutions and Capital Digestive Care (CDC). Partnering with new practices opens new doors and expands our reach. Here are two notable recent additions to the PE team:

Capital Digestive Care makes largest transaction yet with Gastrointestinal & Liver Specialists of Tidewater CDC recently announced a partnership with Gastrointestinal & Liver Specialists of Tidewater, PLLC (GLST), a premier gastroenterology practice in Southeastern Virginia. This marks CDC’s first partnership in Virginia and its largest transaction thus far in the mid-Atlantic region. With the addition of GLST, CDC will double its footprint in the mid-Atlantic, bringing the number of GI specialists serving the region to 128.

With 34 board-certified physicians, 12 advanced care providers, and eight locations, GLST has been the Hampton Roads region’s leading practice for liver and gastroenterology care for more than 25 years. GLST’s doctors and medical divisions are the preferred gastroenterology consultants for primary care physicians and specialists in the region because of their expertise in the evaluation and treatment of digestive and liver diseases and their commitment to high-quality, compassionate, patient-centered care.

“We’re thrilled to welcome GLST’s talented team of providers and staff,” says Michael Weinstein, President and CEO of CDC. “Capital Digestive Care is dedicated to providing best-in-class digestive healthcare to patients and securing the future of independent GI physician groups throughout the mid-Atlantic. We’re proud to partner with highly respected practices like GLST that share our vision and values.”

PE acquires Hudson Bergen Medical Center Adding to its repertoire, PE GI Solutions and Ambulatory Center for Endoscopy, LLC (ACE), recently acquired Hudson Bergen Medical Center, LLC. The surgical center has officially become a second location for the existing Ambulatory Center for Endoscopy, LLC, and has formally been renamed Hudson Bergen Endoscopy and Surgical Center, LLC.

PE GI Solutions entered into a strategic partnership with ACE in 2012 and has provided support in delivering clinical and operational excellence for the center over the last nine years. The expansion of the existing partnership with ACE through the acquisition of Hudson Bergen Endoscopy and Surgical Center, LLC, was spearheaded by the six physician partners of ACE’s first location: Jeffrey M. Raskin, MD; Wayne D. Siegel, MD; Harry Snady, MD, PhD, FACG; Paul M. Stoopack, MD; Harold G. Tepler, MD; and Mauricio Zapiach, MD, FACG.

This second location accommodates both patients requiring GI care as well as those requiring general surgical procedures, and the partnering physicians of the second location are expected to perform more than 4,000 procedures annually. The partnering physicians of the second ACE location are Peter Caride, MD; Juan Gonzalez, MD; and John Sotiriadis, MD, PhD.

We’re growing. Find out about our latest strategic partnerships at pegisolutions.com.