Federal workers furloughed during the government shutdown can get primary care appointments within 24 hours with Camden, N.J.-based Cooper University Health Care, according to the PhillyVoice.

Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health responded to questions from the Tennessee Department of Health regarding the health system's proposed changes for the neonatal intensive care unit, according to the Johnson City Press.

UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster in Pennsylvania closed a second hospital unit and is on track to cease all operations by March, a spokesperson confirmed to Lancaster Online.

Between 2014 and 2017, average wait times for outpatient care improved for three of four specialties in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, while those at private sector hospitals remained the same, according to a study published by JAMA.

Massachusetts became the first and only state to ban ambulance diversions in 2009, and other locations have moved to stop the potentially harmful practice of temporarily closing a facility to incoming ambulances, but it still occurs in most of the nation's largest cities, a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found.

NorthShore University Evanston (Ill.) Hospital created a pilot program to help mental health patients access care sooner after an emergency department visit, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Fayetteville, N.C.-based Cape Fear Valley Health will permanently close Bladen County Hospital's Family Birth Center in Elizabethtown, N.C., reports WECT.

A study published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy examined whether incorporating pharmacists with an expanded scope into the community or hospital emergency departments could affect ED volume.

Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, Mass., is closing its 11-bed inpatient pediatric unit, according to a Worcester Business Journal report.  

The closing of a regional medical center in Knoxville, Tenn., has severely prolonged patient ER wait times, exacerbated an ambulance shortage and diverted firefighters from other potential emergencies as they wait on ambulances stalled at area ERs, NBC-affiliate TV station WBIR reports.

Six healthcare organizations recently shuttered medical units or terminated services in the last two months to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or improve patient care:

Bellaire, Ohio-based Belmont Community Hospital shuttered its behavioral health unit, according to the Wheeling News-Register.

Sturgis (Mich.) Hospital will not close its oncology treatment center, hospital officials have decided.

The CEO of Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health said the health system's move to consolidate the neonatal intensive care unit at one of its hospitals will not jeopardize patient care, according to the Johnson City Press.

Authorities are investigating a hazardous materials incident at Olympia, Wash.-based Providence St. Peter Hospital Jan. 2 that prompted the hospital to divert patients from the emergency room, according to The Olympian.

Emergency responders and paramedics may treat minority patients differently than white patients, a recent study in Oregon suggests.

A pregnant woman who is due later this month claimed she was forgotten and locked inside the All About Women OB/GYN Clinic in Ocala, Fla., NBC affiliate WESH 2 reports.

The Indian Health Service, an HHS agency tasked with providing health services to American Indians and Alaska natives, has stopped several care services due to the government shutdown, Kaiser Health News reports.

Emergency rooms saw a 44 percent increase of patients with either a mental illness or a substance use disorder, according to CNN.

Sturgis (Mich.) Hospital's birth center will close Jan. 2 amid job and services cuts, according to WWMT, a CBS-affiliate TV  station in Kalamazoo, Mich.