Out of heat wave and into a holiday, hospitals are ready

July 1, 2021

Out of heat wave and into a holiday, hospitals are ready

Hospitals tend to be busy places during the summer. Add in a spell of historically hot weather, and the number of people needing care increases dramatically.

“We saw over 100 patients for heat-related conditions,” says Lisa Brandenburg, president of UW Medicine hospitals and clinics.

Brandenburg says UW Medicine is also seeing a rise in patients who did not seek routine care through the COVID-19 pandemic. And the next patient influx awaits: Independence Day weekend, historically infamous for fireworks and summer-related injuries.

“We are ready to take care of any patients who need us,” says Brandenburg. “Everybody wants to celebrate. We want to stress: Please don't go crazy this year.”

Meanwhile, clinicians have welcomed a decreasing volume of COVID-19 patients. As July began, the number of inpatients being treated for COVID-19 is less than 20.

Credit: 
Getty Images
Category: 
YouTube

Terms of appropriate usage of file downloads

  • News reporters and news organizations may freely republish and distribute videos, still images and audio files produced by UW Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
  • Works must be attributed/credited appropriately (for example, “UW Medicine” – as denoted in the file) and must not be used for commercial purposes.
  • These visual and audio files may not be used to exploit or misrepresent UW Medicine or the University of Washington.
  • UW Medicine often licenses still images from Thinkstock but cannot grant republishing rights. You may not republish single image files credited to Thinkstock.
  • Logos of UW Medicine and University of Washington Health Sciences schools may not be republished without explicit permission. Contact us by phone or email: 206.543.3620 or mediarelations@uw.edu