The weather. It's a topic that doesn't come up often in hospital news reporting, but this summer is set to be one of the hottest on record, and many hospitals are already grappling with the consequences of extreme heat. 

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill into law July 24 that will license all freestanding birth centers allowing them to more seamlessly operate throughout the state, according to a news release.

Some patients at HCA Healthcare's Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., are experiencing longer wait times between ambulance pickup and emergency room admission, the Citizen Times reported July 25.

Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., reopened July 24 after a temporary shutdown because of an explosion risk from ruptured lithium-ion batteries. 

Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Health Systems plans to limit the scope of its at-home healthcare services by the end of July, according to The Berkshire Eagle. 

The University of Louisville (Ky.) Hospital — the sole Level 1 trauma facility in the region — was without power for more than 12 hours July 15, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

The emergency department is the most common point of entry for people who need care, yet long wait times often also make it the center of hospital patient dissatisfaction. 

Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, Conn. has launched its own ambulance service to ensure the quickest possible transportation of patients, CT Insider reported July 15. 

Hospital-at-home programs are growing in popularity among hospitals, but the burden it adds to unpaid caregivers is one reason why 10 percent to 62 percent of families turn down the option, NPR reported July 18.

Last fall and winter, hospitals took a number of steps to handle what for many was an unprecedented demand for care amid a simultaneous surge of respiratory syncytial virus, flu and COVID-19.

Hospitals are seeing a flood of patients with heat-related illnesses amid an extreme and prolonged heat wave in the Southern U.S., where triple-digit temperatures are nearing all-time highs.

Having a dynamic command center is critical to managing patient flow efficiently.

A car crashed into a Maryland hospital July 16, requiring some intensive care unit patients to be transferred elsewhere, according to the hospital.

 Emergency department boarding remains at crisis levels even as the pandemic dwindles — and capacity problems will likely persist for hospitals through the next decade. 

Albuquerque (N.M.) ER and Hospital has opened a new fully licensed micro-hospital, KOB reported July 13.

A power outage at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Medical Center South forced the hospital to reschedule elective surgeries and procedures, CBS and ABC affiliate WJAX reported July 12.

The emergency room and general medical unit are now open at St. Francis Hospital-Interquest in Colorado Springs. The 72-bed facility is Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health's third hospital. 

UnityPoint Health Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wis., is testing out an "admissions unit" — a waiting area where emergency room patients needing admission are medically monitored until a bed is open, according to a July 11 report from ABC affiliate WKOW.

Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) General Hospital moved up the date it will end childbirth services by about three weeks, with the care ending abruptly at the end of July 11, according to the Times Leader.

At least one hospital in Vermont postponed elective surgeries, and staff at multiple hospitals in the state slept at work overnight as historic flooding batters the region.