logo
Hospitals' New Normal Five Years After COVID: Managing Medical Equipment Amid a Record-Breaking Flu Season

Hospitals' New Normal Five Years After COVID: Managing Medical Equipment Amid a Record-Breaking Flu Season

Miami Herald10-03-2025

HOUSTON, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / March 10, 2025 / The COVID-19 pandemic forced hospitals to rethink everything, including how they manage medical equipment-especially when facing patient surges like the current flu season, which has reached a 15-year high, with more than 33 million reported cases. Now, five years after the pandemic, healthcare providers are using a new approach to help ensure clinicians are prepared with life-saving equipment before they need it most.
With healthcare costs rising and unpredictable patient surges becoming the norm, hospitals are prioritizing flexible, data-driven equipment management strategies to help avoid equipment shortages and budget strains. More hospitals than ever are turning to US Med-Equip's rentals and ASAP Asset Management program, which offers strategic solutions and real-time equipment tracking to help optimize costs, improve care, and better prepare for ongoing and future health crises.
"The COVID-19 crisis underscored the need for scalable approaches to help hospitals ensure they have critical devices when and where they are needed," said Greg Salario, CEO of US Med-Equip. "When every second counts, no clinician wants to risk patient care because they don't have enough equipment."
One healthcare leader in a Northeast hospital recently highlighted the impact of US Med-Equip's support in a firsthand account.
"With the recent surge of Influenza, RSV, and COVID cases, we have had an increase in demand for ventilators and non-invasive BIPAP/CPAP to treat our critical patients. USME's ASAP Asset Management program has been so valuable and has come to our rescue with these cases! It's very much appreciated during this stressful time! The partnership and great teamwork of our two teams have given the best possible care to our patients!"

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Observation deck operator in former John Hancock Center plans major expansion and a new ‘immersive experience'
Observation deck operator in former John Hancock Center plans major expansion and a new ‘immersive experience'

Chicago Tribune

time9 minutes ago

  • Chicago Tribune

Observation deck operator in former John Hancock Center plans major expansion and a new ‘immersive experience'

The operator of the 360 Chicago observation deck near the top of the former John Hancock Center said the attraction is taking over two additional floors, creating the city's first multilevel observation deck, a new three-story atrium and a 14,000-square-foot private event space. It's an encouraging sign for the Magnificent Mile, a retail district that has a lot of empty storefronts. Magnicity, the French company that owns 360 Chicago, last year bought the 95th and 96th floors, directly above the 94th-floor observation deck, after the abrupt closure of the legendary Signature Room restaurant and the Signature Lounge, both top tourist spots for decades. 'We are now positioned to bring much-needed investment into these iconic spaces, delivering an experience that truly reflects the historic and architectural significance of this incredible building,' said Nichole Benolken, managing director at 360 Chicago. Although 360 Chicago didn't provide many details about what visitors will experience in the expanded observation deck, it did drop a few hints. WB-Immersive, a global firm that helped design the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Paralympics, will create an immersive experience for visitors in the renovated spaces, which will also include new exhibits and attractions. 'I can't say too much because we are still in the conceptual design phase,' said Pierre-Antoine Batail, WB-Immersive's head of creative strategy. It's certain that the space will no longer host a restaurant, Benolken said. Immersive retail experiences, such as the new interactive exhibit dedicated to Harry Potter at 676 N. Michigan Ave., have become popular in downtown Chicago, and for many spaces now make more financial sense than restaurants. 'Our decision making was data- and research-driven,' she said. 'The dining scene in Chicago has evolved dramatically in the past 30 years.' The Signature Room closed in September 2023. Its shutdown was a blow to the Magnificent Mile, where the retail vacancy rate soared as a result of online shopping trends and the pandemic. A message posted to the restaurant's social media pages cited COVID-19 and subsequent 'severe economic hardship.' Magnicity invested about $17 million into the former John Hancock Center, the skyscraper now known as 875 North Michigan Avenue, after buying the 94th floor more than 10 years ago. It added attractions such as Tilt, a moving glass ledge that for two minutes dangles guests more than 1,000 feet above the street, and CloudBar, the highest bar in Chicago. Nearly 1 million people visit the observation deck each year, a roughly 60% boost from when Magnicity took over, Benolken said. The company operates similar attractions atop buildings in Berlin, Paris and Rotterdam, Netherlands. The three-floor reconstruction will take 18 to 24 months to complete, and is the most significant interior renovation in the building's 56-year history, said Scott Duncan, design partner at SOM, the architectural firm that designed the 100-story John Hancock Center and leads the current project. SOM plans to connect all three floors with a grand staircase, replace all the windows on the 94th, 95th and 96th floors, providing visitors with much clearer views, and transform the 96th floor into a private event space, he said. That will also raise the profile of 875 North Michigan Avenue, hopefully attracting the many office users seeking spaces in the city's top trophy buildings. 'People are now looking for something out of the ordinary when it comes to office space,' Duncan said. 'And the real pyrotechnics will come when the (observation deck's) new exhibits are revealed.'

RFK Jr. appoints 8 new members to CDC's vaccine advisory committee, including some critics of shots
RFK Jr. appoints 8 new members to CDC's vaccine advisory committee, including some critics of shots

Yahoo

time14 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

RFK Jr. appoints 8 new members to CDC's vaccine advisory committee, including some critics of shots

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Wednesday eight new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's independent vaccine advisory committee, some of whom have been critics of shots -- especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes just two days after Kennedy removed all 17 sitting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), claiming the panel was plagued by conflicts of interest and was a "rubber stamp" for all vaccines. The ACIP makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines, and the CDC has the final say on whether or not to accept the recommendations. MORE: What may be next for CDC's vaccine advisory committee after RFK Jr. removed all its members? Kennedy said in a post on X that the new members include "highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America's most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense." The new members will be at an upcoming ACIP meeting scheduled to be held between June 25 and June 27, according to Kennedy. The meeting is to discuss new recommendations for several vaccines, including the HPV vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine. "The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well," Kennedy wrote in the post on X. The new eight members appear to have strong credentials related to medicine, public health, epidemiology and statistics, but with less of an emphasis on credentials related to immunology, virology and vaccinology in comparison with previous committees. Kennedy told ABC News on Tuesday that the replacements for ACIP would not be "anti-vaxxers." However, some of the new members have previously espoused anti-vaccine sentiments, especially around COVID-19 vaccines and mRNA technology. One of them, Dr. Robert Malone -- who made some early contributors to mRNA vaccine technology -- spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming people were "hypnotized" into believing mainstream ideas about COVID-19, such as vaccination. MORE: RFK Jr. has promoted 'freedom of choice' while limiting vaccines, food Retsef Levi, another newly appointed member, has previously published non-peer reviewed research alongside Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on COVID-19 vaccines, suggesting healthy people have died from the shots. Another of the new members, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, along with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health. Published in October 2020 and named after the Massachusetts town in which it was drafted, the Great Barrington Declaration called for COVID-19 lockdowns to be avoided and a new plan for handling the pandemic by protecting the most vulnerable individuals but allowing most to resume normal activities, achieving herd immunity naturally -- a plan criticized as "unethical" by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. At least four of the eight members appear to have been influential to Kennedy's beliefs. Stat News reported that Malone, Kuldorff and two other new members, Vicky Pebsworth and Dr. Cody Meissner, are all listed in the dedication in the secretary's book, 'The Real Anthony Fauci,' which attempts to undermine the former health official's work and questions his motivations before and during the pandemic. It remains unclear if Kennedy plans to appoint any more members to ACIP RFK Jr. appoints 8 new members to CDC's vaccine advisory committee, including some critics of shots originally appeared on

US immigration raid of Omaha meat plant cuts staff, fuels food production worries
US immigration raid of Omaha meat plant cuts staff, fuels food production worries

Yahoo

time19 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

US immigration raid of Omaha meat plant cuts staff, fuels food production worries

By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) -U.S. meat producer Glenn Valley Foods was operating an Omaha, Nebraska, facility with about 30% of its staff on Wednesday after federal agents detained workers in an immigration raid the previous day, slashing the output of products it sells to grocery stores and restaurants, the company's president said. In the wake of Tuesday's sweep by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, livestock traders and market analysts expressed concerns that the potential deportation of undocumented workers from such raids could disrupt U.S. food production at a time when beef prices have soared and meat processors report a labor shortage. ICE agents detained about 74 to 76 workers out of roughly 140 at the Glenn Valley Foods plant, President Chad Hartmann said. Other workers did not show up on Wednesday because they felt afraid or traumatized, he said, adding that the facility's production dropped to about 20% of normal. Glenn Valley Foods sells steak, chicken and corned beef products to restaurants and grocery stores, according to its website. Retail beef prices have set records as the size of the U.S. cattle herd has declined to its lowest level in 70 years after a years-long drought raised feed costs. Consumer demand for steaks and hamburgers has stayed strong nevertheless. Glenn Valley Foods is trying to determine how long it will take to hire new employees, Hartmann said. "The hole that got punched into our business is staffing," he said. Livestock traders worried that immigration raids could slow meat companies' demand to buy cattle from farmers to process into beef, if the companies do not have enough workers. Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures came under pressure on Tuesday during the raid, after recently hitting records. "There's certainly going to be nervousness out there on where the labor situation goes, going forward," said Matt Wiegand, a commodity broker for risk management firm FuturesOne in Nebraska. Meatpackers still face an acute worker shortage, said Julie Anna Potts, president of the Meat Institute industry group. It worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when major companies such as Tyson Foods temporarily shut plants because of a lack of workers. Glenn Valley used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees' immigration status. Hartmann said Homeland Security told him on Wednesday that there was no better system. "We will have to continue to use it," he said. ICE said a criminal investigation was ongoing into what immigration officials called a large-scale employment of immigrants who are present in the U.S. illegally. Footage of the Glenn Valley raid released by ICE showed agents searching the plant, restraining workers' hands and ankles, and taking them into custody. ICE officers have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to deliver on U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda of record-level deportations. Tensions boiled over in Los Angeles over the weekend when protesters took to the streets after ICE arrested migrants at Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse, according to rights advocates. On Tuesday night, demonstrators marched in New York, Atlanta and Chicago. More than half of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank. The Omaha World-Herald newspaper said on Tuesday that raids were also reported at local plants run by large meatpackers Tyson and JBS USA. Tyson and JBS told Reuters their facilities were not raided.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store