Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego County set up a surge tent outside its emergency room entrance to triage patients with flu symptoms, according to a KNSD report.
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Erie, Pa.-based UPMC Hamot will open a new Pregnancy Recovery Center on Jan. 2, offering expectant mothers addicted to opioids medical treatment and counseling, according to a report from GoErie.com.
The nation's ongoing opioid epidemic produced a bevy of news stories in 2017, including those about rising rates of fentanyl use, new limits on opioid prescriptions and health systems' responses and strategies to fight opioid addiction.
Cook County and five other counties encompassing Chicago suburbs recently filed lawsuits against drugmakers for the companies' alleged roles in facilitating Illinois' opioid epidemic.
The University of Chicago Medical Center began restricting children and anyone with flu symptoms from visiting Wednesday after seeing an early spike in flu cases, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.
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As heroin and fentanyl have contributed to a larger number of opioid-related deaths, the proportion of African-Americans dying from opioid overdoses has increased, according to data released by the CDC in December.
Pittsburgh-based entities UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care and Allegheny Health Network have each received grants to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction among their patient populations, according to a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Colorado hospitals have admitted 566 people for influenza so far this season, marking a three-fold increase from the 150 admissions typically seen in the state by mid-December, according to the Denver Post.
Pediatric care is disappearing from community hospitals, according to a study published in Pediatrics and featured by Reuters.
American life expectancy dipped for a second consecutive year in 2016. This decline was once again largely fueled by soaring rates of opioid overdose deaths, according to two reports from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics released Thursday.