Croí Health Hospice residence renamed to include Barbara Roch 
Access Newswire, Hingham, MA; Press Release; 9/8/26 
On September 8, Croí Health officially unveils a new sign renaming the Pat Roche Hospice Home in Hingham, MA, to the Barbara and Pat Roche Hospice Home. The change honors the generosity of the couple, co-founders of the Roche Bros. supermarket chain, who helped make the residence possible. The Pat Roche Hospice Home first opened in 2013 as the region's first hospice residence, named for Patrick Roche following his passing in 2012. The organization is now expanding that tribute to include his wife, Barbara, who passed in November. The Roche family has long supported Croí Health's mission to expand access to hospice and palliative care across the 27 South Shore towns it serves.

Our Hospice collects $110K at Labor Day weekend concert 
Jennings County KORN 97.7 & 1460 AM, Columbus, IN; 9/8/26
This year's Our Hospice Concert returned to the Bartholomew County Public Library on Saturday, September 5, for an afternoon of music benefiting Our Hospice of South Central Indiana. Community partners, raffle participants, sponsors, benefactors, and attendees raised over $110,000 for Our Hospice patients and their loved ones. The 40th Annual Our Hospice Concert came back to the library steps in downtown Columbus, where the tradition began in 1987.

CMS recalculating 2027 hospice payment rates due to error
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/8/26 
The 2027 hospice payment rates likely will change based on a technical error by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency made a mistake that affected the Fiscal Year 2027 hospice wage index and has recalculated those numbers. CMS is in the process of developing a correction notice to update the wage index and hospice payment rates for all four levels of care. This will not require another proposed rule.

A growing Bay County deserves more choices in compassionate care | guest column 
Panama City News Herald, Panama City, FL; by Julie Head; 9/6/26 
Bay County’s remarkable growth has brought new neighborhoods, businesses and opportunities. But as our population grows and ages, more families will face serious illness, care for aging parents and make difficult health care decisions. A community’s strength is measured not only by how it welcomes new residents, but also by how it supports people during life’s most vulnerable moments. That's why conversations about hospice, and access to it, matter. ... For nearly 45 years, Big Bend Hospice has served North Florida from its roots in Tallahassee as a community-based nonprofit. We expanded into Bay County because we saw a growing need for nonprofit hospice care. Before opening our doors, we spent months listening. ...

Impact of outpatient palliative care consult triggers on end-of-life outcomes in a VA hematology/oncology clinic 
Medscape; by Morgan Lyttle, MD, Michelle Popadiuk, MBA, LPN, RHIT, ODS-C, Seema Limaye, MD, Alexi Vahlkamp, Shannon Carrigan, MD, and Jean Vendiola, MD; 9/4/26 
... Conclusions: Outpatient palliative care (PC) triggers successfully shifted referral origin from inpatient to outpatient, halved the rate of trigger-eligible patients not receiving PC, and maintained hospice engagement despite loss of the inpatient oncology service. Future directions include expanding triggers to other subspecialty clinics managing oncology patients.

When lung cancer spreads to the liver: what to expect 
Everyday Health; by Ashley Welch, medically reviewed by Tingting Tan, MD, PhD; 9/8/26 
Liver metastasis from lung cancer occurs when cancer cells from the tumor in the lung travel to the liver. Also known as stage 4, it’s the most advanced stage of lung cancer. ...

• How Lung Cancer Spreads to the Liver ...
• Signs to Watch Out For ...
• How Doctors Diagnose Liver Metastasis ...
• Treatment Options for Lung Cancer With Liver Metastasis ...
• Palliative Care ...
• Prognosis and Outlook ...

Editor's Note: Calling all non-clinical readers -- learn about how lung cancer can spread to the liver. As a hospice leader, you are an ambassador for palliative and hospice care wherever you go. Equip yourself to better understand those you serve, and the care their teams provide them.

Grieving children need more than our sympathy. They need a place to belong 
Rhode Island Current; by Deanna Upchurch; 9/8/26 
Children who lose a close family member grieve differently than adults, and their grief changes as they grow. A loss experienced at 8 can take on an entirely different meaning at 12, 16 or 25. A child can be deeply sad and still want to swim, make art, play games and laugh with friends. HopeHealth makes room for all of it at Camp BraveHeart. This summer, 100 grieving children and teens attended our day camp at Camp Hoffman in South Kingstown with another 75 experiencing the camp offered in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. ... According to the 2026 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model, 1 in 11 children in the United States —- about 6.6 million —- will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18.

When the end of life feels like a beginning: a hospice encounter raises questions medicine can't answer
Broadview; by Ralph Klose; 9/8/26 
As a retired neuropsychologist and longtime hospice companion, I often wonder what can still be measured at the end of life — and what cannot. ... Magda had lived in the hospice for three months. A former violinist, she rarely spoke about her past. But her hands still moved in gentle arcs, as if drawing invisible phrases from the air. ... One afternoon, I entered her room and paused. The air felt different — not cold, not scented, but bright. The blinds were closed. No sunlight entered. And still, the space around her shimmered faintly, like a curtain of breath. Her skin looked translucent. Her lips moved, but no sound came. Later, as I sat quietly at her bedside, a nurse whispered, “She’s speaking with someone.” There was no theology in her gestures. No visions of angels. But something had changed — as if a second world had unfolded beside the first, not replacing it, but resting gently alongside. ...

How Caledonia is using a community festival to redefine end-of-life planning 
McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 9/7/26 
A first-of-its-kind festival aims to bring “deathcare” back into the fabric of community life by reducing fears and stress tied to the end of life. Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care in North Riverside, IL,  is partnering with Wally’s Hearth, a Chicago nonprofit working to establish the state’s first social model hospice home, to host Telling the Bees Fest: A Chicagoland Deathcare Education & Resource Festival. The festival is designed to foster “honest, compassionate conversations about death, caregiving, planning, grief, remembrance and what it means to care for one another through the full human experience,” according to organizers.

Squirrel Hill nursing home sued over man's hypothermia death 
hoodline, Pittsburgh, PA; by Samantha Davis; 9/2/26 
George Agie was 78 years old, living with heart failure, a seizure disorder, and end-stage renal disease, when a paramedic crew found him inside a bitterly cold room at Squirrel Hill Wellness and Rehabilitation Center on January 29, with a core body temperature of just 82.2 degrees. He died less than two months later, and now his sister is suing the facility, claiming a malfunctioning heater and inattentive staff let a survivable situation turn fatal. ... Agie remained hospitalized through February 16 before being discharged to receive hospice care at home, where he died on March 24. 

5 ways leaders can harness brain chemistry for happier and more productive teams 
Fast Company | Leadership; by Scott Curran; 9/6/26 
Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins offer a framework for understanding how recognition, gratitude, connection, and fun can strengthen workplace culture. ... Here are five ways leaders can put this brain chemistry and its good-inducing consequences to work.

1. Design for small wins (dopamine) ...
2. Make gratitude routine (serotonin) ...
3. Create connection rituals (oxytocin) ...
4. Inject fun (endorphins) ...
5. Model the behavior and share stories of impact ...

If it's out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind, too. ~ Ivan Nuru