1,000 air conditioners to be delivered to hospitals in Paris region by end of week

Around 1,000 air conditioners will be delivered to hospitals across the Paris region by the end of the week as France prepares for another heat wave, broadcaster BFM TV reported Friday.

The decision came after the French government announced that it had ordered 30,000 air conditioners for hospitals across the country to help them cope with future heat waves.

Hospitals in the Paris area have already begun purchasing additional units while waiting for the government's deliveries.

"I think it's very important and really necessary to get through a second heat wave, especially if it comes in a short period of time," Emmanuel Raffoux, head of the hematology department at Saint-Louis Hospital, told BFM TV.

"Our bodies have suffered; they are trying to recover a little, and for the patients here, they will likely experience a second heat wave during the same hospital stay," he added.

Temperatures in some hospital rooms reached as high as 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) during last week's heat wave, prompting Paris public hospitals to urgently purchase additional air conditioners.

The Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP) said it had deployed and purchased 800 air conditioners between late summer 2025 and mid-2026 and had acquired another 1,000 units in less than a week.

AP-HP hopes to be reimbursed by the government following its nationwide order of 30,000 air conditioners for hospitals, it said.

France has experienced several days of exceptionally high temperatures, with many regions recording temperatures above 35C (95F), driving increased demand for cooling equipment.