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The police said that a three-page note was found in the wallet of the gunman who opened fire in a Midtown Manhattan office tower on Monday, killing four people. The note carried by the gunman, Shane Tamura, a former high school football player, referred to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a brain disease that has afflicted people who play contact sports. The disease can only be definitively diagnosed after death. The note, from which the police released excerpts, also inveighed against the National Football League, which has offices at 345 Park Avenue, where the shooting took place, saying it had concealed the danger of the sport in favor of profits. Mr. Tamura shot himself in the chest, rather than the head. “Study my brain please,” the note said. “I’m sorry.” (Cramer and Marcius, 7/29)

The latest "Best Hospitals" rankings from U.S. News & World Report have been released, with familiar facilities largely comprising the top-performing Honor Roll. However, compared with last year, there are a trio of newcomers to this year's 20-hospital list: AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida; Hackensack University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey; and the University of Michigan Health-Ann Arbor, which was also included on the Honor Roll in 2023. (Henderson, 7/29)

Weiss Memorial Hospital may no longer participate in Medicare starting next month — one of the most serious sanctions a hospital can face, according to the federal government. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a public notice late last week that Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown would be terminated from the Medicare program Aug. 9. (Schencker, 7/28)

Rush University Medical Center experienced a temporary loss of air conditioning Monday morning, spokesperson Tobin Klinger said. As a result, the hospital’s emergency room was put on bypass, meaning that ambulances in the area were instructed to take patients to other hospitals, and many operating room procedures were canceled. (Weaver, 7/28)

Two ambulance services have closed in New Hampshire this year. Berlin EMS closed this April, taken over by their fire department, and most recently, the Warren-Wentworth Ambulance Service shut down earlier this month. (Liu and Furukawa, 7/28)

The University of California San Diego Health and Palomar Health are in discussions to form a jointly governed entity that would oversee Palomar’s operations. The two health systems said Monday they signed a letter of intent to negotiate a joint powers authority. It could be formalized by late 2025, a spokesperson for UC San Diego Health said. (DeSilva, 7/28)

With the anticipation of additional days of hot temperatures, more than 100 health organizations are calling on state leaders to take more action on extreme heat. The Colorado Academy of Family Physicians, Healthy Climate New Mexico, Idaho Clinicians for Climate and Health, the Arizona Public Health Association and Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action are among the groups urging states to protect the public from worsening extreme heat, one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths. (Cohen, 7/28)

As extreme heat is forecast across much of the U.S. this week, health departments across the country are warning people to take steps to survive the potentially deadly weather. Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., claiming roughly 2,000 people annually, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But experts note the official heat-related death toll may be undercounted due to heat sometimes not being considered as a factor in someone's death. (Benadjaoud and Hutchinson, 7/28)