A nursing shortage has forced Big Bend Regional Medical Center in Alpine, Texas, to intermittently shut down its labor and delivery unit, according to Kaiser Health News. 

The federal government has sent a 33-person disaster medical assistance team to Our Lady of the Lake to help the Baton Rouge, La.-based hospital care for a major influx of COVID-19 patients, CNN reported.

Florida is reporting a new record of COVID-19 hospitalizations and now accounts for one in five new cases nationwide, Bloomberg reported July 31.

Physicians at some U.S. hospitals are worried an unseasonable spike in respiratory syncytial virus combined with an uptick in COVID-19 cases among children could soon overwhelm pediatric units, The New York Times reported Aug. 1. 

CoxHealth had 168 COVID-19 positive inpatients as of July 30. On July 31, the Springfield, Mo.-based system had 180, a new record during the pandemic, and as of Aug. 1, the number climbed even higher to 187, according to Steve Edwards, CoxHealth's president and CEO.

Hospital pediatric wards in Oklahoma and Louisiana are facing an unseasonal surge in respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, that's putting a strain on capacity, according to Bloomberg.

Some hospitals are facing two patient surges — patients who avoided or couldn't get medical care amid the pandemic, alongside a rising number of COVID-19 patients.

The Delta Health Highland Hills Hospital in Senatobia, Miss., opened its doors to patients July 29, replacing the shuttered North Oak Regional Medical Center, according to local news station WMCA.

St. Luke's Jerome (Idaho) Medical Center temporarily shut down its operating room and obstetrics services because of a staffing shortage, local news station KMVT reported June 30. 

St. Michael Medical Center's Bremerton, Wash., location, a standalone emergency and trauma center, is temporarily closing July 30 because of staffing shortages and has not provided a reopening date, according to the Kitsap Sun, citing an announcement from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which operates the ED. 

More Florida hospitals are postponing elective surgeries as COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state reach record highs.

Mississippi health officials have ordered licensed hospitals in the state to delay certain elective procedures that require overnight hospitalization, beginning Aug. 1. 

Florida is reporting a record number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations as the delta variant spreads rapidly during the state's summer tourist season, Bloomberg reported July 28.

Northampton, Mass.-based Cooley Dickinson Hospital has recently seen a small increase in patients with respiratory illnesses likely tied to smoke from the ongoing Canada wildfires, local news station WGGM reported July 27. 

Police arrested a patient who fired a gun at staff members of Emory Decatur (Ga.) Hospital, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Several healthcare organizations have closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or prevent patient care lapses. 

The New York Times has added a new map of current hospitalizations per capita by hospital service area. 

Children's hospitals in Arkansas and Oklahoma — two states where COVID-19 hospitalizations are up at least 60 percent from 14 days ago — are warning that more pediatric patients are becoming critically ill with COVID-19.

St. Charles Bend (Ore.) Hospital will operate only as an emergency facility through Aug. 4 because of delayed discharges and a shortage of long-term care in the region, local news station KTVZ reports. 

Snow Shoe, Pa.-based Mountaintop Area Medical Center — which offers primary care, minor surgeries, lab services and more — will close Aug. 31.