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On our recent Webinar, “COVID-19 CARES Act: Getting the Government to Cover Your Payroll Costs,” we provided some insight from our customers on what they were doing to help keep their organizations moving forward during the COVID-19 epidemic – things like communication to customers and employees to using this time to improve their businesses. We would also like to highlight an interesting phenomenon, companies across many industries are partnering and/or using creativity to fight the COVID-19 crisis in brand new ways.
One of my favorite examples–being a hockey player and in the healthcare space–is from hockey equipment company Bauer, who has pivoted to making face shields for healthcare workers. Another example is furniture maker near Seattle that has converted their factory to make masks for those on the front lines.
Another example of creativity is the switch from in-person to telehealth consultations. Several of our customers are now moving to telehealth and are taking advantage of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program which will provide $200 million in funding to help health care providers provide connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations. The Program will provide immediate support to eligible health care providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by fully funding their telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to provide critical connected care services until the program’s funds have been expended or the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. For more information, please visit the FCC Website.
The COVID-19 crisis has also sparked new cross-industry partnerships. The hotel and lodging industry have always been in the business of taking care of people, but now they are in a unique position to recognize the heroic effort of healthcare workers and community caregivers that are working to save lives and contain the spread of COVID-19.
For example, Marriott International has committed to provide $10 million worth of hotel stays for healthcare professionals who on the front lines against COVID-19 in the United States. The initiative, called Rooms for Responders, will provide free rooms in some of the most impacted areas including New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington DC and Newark, NJ. Additionally, Marriott has also launched the Community Caregivers Program, which offers medical workers and support staff special rates at select Marriott hotels so that they can stay close to the hospitals and government buildings where they treat COVID-19 patients.
Hilton is also joining together with American Express to donate up to one million rooms to front line medical professionals. These rooms will be available to those fighting COVID-19 (doctors, nurses, EMTs etc.) at no charge. Medical professionals will have a safe and close place to stay to sleep, rest or isolate from their families through the end of May.
The Hospitality industry is additionally helping by providing listing services to help match up healthcare and government agencies with lodging providers such as HospitalityHelps.org, and the American Hospitality and Lodging Association’s Hospitality For Hope Initiative. The Hospitality for Hope initiative already has over 15,000 hotels signed up along with a total of 2.3 million rooms identified in proximity to health-care facilities. “It has been so impressive to see hotel after hotel join this important initiative as a way of giving back to the communities in which they operate,” said Chip Rogers, AHLA president/CEO.
These are just a few examples of how the healthcare and hospitality industries have been flexible, creative and adapted their business models to meet today’s needs. Do you have an example? We’d love to hear from you! Please email us directly at brian.bogie@sage.com or susan.casella@sage.com.
In addition, Sage Intacct has created a resource page to support you during this time. We’ve gathered information and resources to help navigate the current situation. We’ve included details on how we are supporting Sage Intacct customers and partners, as well as business advice to help you navigate the current business environment. For more information, please visit https://www.sageintacct.com/coronavirus.
