Point Pleasant, W.Va.-based Pleasant Valley Hospital is ending obstetrics services by the end of the month, affecting 53 jobs, according to Metro News.

Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health is shutting down inpatient services at Mercy Philadelphia Hospital.

Rawlins, Wyo.-based Memorial Hospital of Carbon County halted most major services Feb. 10 due to a water leak in its heating system, reports local news source K2 Radio.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is working to streamline its discharge processes after an internal audit revealed the Iowa City-based system achieves its target discharge time in only 10-15 percent of cases, reports The Gazette.

Improving operations and efficiency is the No. 1 strategic priority for hospital executives, with many focusing on length of stay, according to 4sight Health's 2019 hospital executive survey.

Adventist Health St. Helena (Calif.) will close its senior behavioral health and inpatient mental health units, affecting 105 employees, the Napa Valley Register reports.

Easton (Pa.) Hospital closed its obstetrics and gynecology unit Feb. 7, citing a lack of patient demand, according to LehighValleyLive.com.

After several days of only accepting walk-in patients, ambulances are once again bringing patients to Big South Fork Medical Center in Oneida, Tenn., according to The Independent Herald.

Several healthcare organizations recently closed medical units or terminated services to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or improve patient care.

UnityPoint Health–Trinity is pausing its labor and delivery services Feb. 7 at its hospital in Muscatine, Iowa, in part because it is struggling to recruit and retain OB-GYN physicians.

Lexington (N.C.) Medical Center will close its labor and delivery unit by the end of June, reports Carolina Public Press. 

The Villages (Fla.) Regional Hospital was on lockdown for nearly three hours Jan. 26, after receiving an anonymous bomb threat, a spokesperson from the hospital's parent Gainesville-based University of Florida Health confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review.

Arlington-based Texas Health Resources is expanding its collaboration with DispatchHealth, which provides home care services.

Cincinnati-based Mercy Health reported a nearly two-fold increase in patient volumes at its new freestanding emergency room in Fairborn, Ohio.

HCA Houston Healthcare has established a hospital-based air ambulance program that will service parts of Texas, according to theHouston Chronicle. 

Central Sterile (CS) is the foundation of surgical and procedural area programs within hospitals, ASC’s and clinical arenas. Yet CS departments struggle with staff retention and finding qualified candidates for employment. How can perioperative leaders support the foundation of their program to enhance service, ensure safe patient care and outcomes? It is essential that we understand the CS technician and their role while creating retention strategies to stabilize the department and recruiting strategies to find new staff.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente temporarily will close its Woodland Hills Medical Center in Los Angeles after being told the facility won't have running water for several more days.

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare will end inpatient services at its 160-bed Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, Mass., according to The Boston Globe.

Uber Health plans to double the size of its team in 2020, its leader wrote in a LinkedIn post this week.

Americore Health acquired Ellwood City (Pa.) Medical Center in October 2017 and closed the hospital in December 2019. During that period, the Pennsylvania Department of Health cited the hospital more than 40 times, according to GoErie.com.