The United States healthcare system must prepare for climate change‘s impact, Al Sommer, M.D., dean emeritus of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, told Kaiser Health News in an interview. The effect of climate change on hospitals is often overlooked, Sommer told KHN. In heavily populated areas, excessive heat could lead to situations similar tothe 1995 Chicago heat wave, when 700 people died in a one-week period.
Sommer helped oversee development of a report released this week, “American Climate Prospectus: Economic Risks in the United States,” which examines the effects of climate change on economics, and elaborated on the ramifications to the healthcare system.
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