Small health-care businesses may fail without help accessing PPE

In my job as Alberta provincial affairs director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), both research and direct feedback constantly expose me to how tough it is to run a small business every day. But the COVID-19 crisis brought it home, literally.

Following the ordered closure of his dental practice, my husband came home after laying off his entire staff. It was an unforgettable day. I gave him a hug, handed him a beer and we braced ourselves for the unknown.

Over the past weeks, CFIB has been digging into the experiences of some of the hardest-hit businesses of the pandemic — providers of non-urgent health care. We wanted to know how dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, massage therapists and other private-sector health-care providers were managing. But we also wanted to find out about their state of mind. Our research uncovered that what these small business owners are feeling is stress, fear, anxiety, frustration and a sense of being overwhelmed.

All small businesses are struggling through these uncertain times and worrying about the future. But seeing it up close and having it confirmed by our recent research makes clear that small businesses in the health sector are facing a unique set of challenges. Reopening an office environment when you’re literally hands-on heightens the potential COVID-19 threat and demands detailed risk management.

Although some of these businesses are operating again, the stress, fear and anxiety haven’t gone away. Those emotions have turned into new concerns, including accessing enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to continue operations and following all the protocols necessary to protect everyone’s health and safety.

Opening up again has meant these businesses must navigate a whole new set of logistical challenges. Office life is now very different. Operating guidelines are like what you would see in a hospital. Complex requirements have been issued, not only by government, but also by professional associations and colleges. With all this information to digest and master it’s not surprising that 83 per cent of the health-sector businesses CFIB surveyed say they are overwhelmed trying to keep up with all COVID-19 information and tasks.

In many cases, the hardest part of the “new normal” is accessing and buying personal protective equipment (PPE). In the lead-up to reopening I saw my husband spend hours racing around town and working the phone trying to find gowns, face shields, gloves, sanitizer and N95 masks. He used to wear dress clothes to work. His wardrobe is now COVID-19 chic: full gown, face shields, scrub cap and N95 mask.

The concern in health-sector businesses about accessing PPE is more than twice that of other businesses (49 per cent compared to 20 per cent). The vast majority (88 per cent) are deeply concerned PPE will become a significant expense for their businesses at a time when they are hard-pressed to absorb additional costs.

In my husband’s case, additional PPE costs his business an average of roughly $200 a day — $1,200 a week for one office. And he’s losing about $1,300 a day because of enhanced sterilization, reduced appointment times and other new operating requirements.

It’s not surprising, given these new costs, that 75 per cent of small businesses owners in this sector are worried this “new normal” of reduced capacity and enhanced requirements is not financially viable. An additional 16 per cent are even considering bankruptcy. Numbers like these should sound the alarm that more help is needed for health-sector small businesses.

A common theme emerging both from the many survey comments we received from small businesses in this industry and from stories I hear all too often at the dinner table is that businesses need help accessing and purchasing PPE. Shutting down a firm because of limited access to PPE would of course be personally devastating for the owner, but it would also put even more strain on the public health system if Canadians were not able to access the health services these small businesses provide.

To ensure that does not happen governments need to look at allowing health-sector small businesses to access and purchase PPE through government supply chains. doing so would help ensure the continuous supply of PPE that these businesses need in order to maintain operations and keep providing essential health services.

all small businesses are struggling through these

uncertain times.