Category: Care Coordination

The average wait time for emergency department visits is two hours and 25 minutes, but systems are developing new ways to cut that time to as low as four minutes.

More Americans are having fewer or no children, resulting in a “baby bust” that is causing hospitals to shutter their labor and delivery units, NPR reported July 15.

Widespread power outages are complicating care delivery for Houston hospitals amid a severe heatwave in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, The New York Times reported.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced July 9 that the state would deploy 25 additional ambulances and add 250 medical beds at NGR Arena “to support Houston’s EMS and hospital capacity needs” in the wake of Hurricane Beryl’s aftermath.

Officials at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, are hoping to expand emergency medicine services to residents south of the city with construction of a new full-service ER, the hospital announced July 2. 

Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital implemented a program to more quickly transfer older patients with terminal illnesses from emergency departments to hospice facilities.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 storm during the early hours of July 7 and has since caused several hospitals and health systems to adjust some services, CBS affiliate KHOU reported.

Hospitals across the country are finalizing staffing plans and issuing public warnings on fireworks safety ahead of the July Fourth holiday, when an average of around 91,000 patients visit emergency departments. 

By 2034, the number of adults 65 and older is expected to grow 40%, yet today, the geriatric care field is already short-staffed.

Two wildfires in Southeastern New Mexico have caused the deaths of two people, the evacuation of 5,000 people and closed a hospital, Source New Mexico reported June 18.