Wings of Hope joins NorthStar Care Community
NorthStar Care Community press release; 10/15/26
NorthStar Care Community is anchored by its founding members – Arbor Hospice, Centrica Care Navigators, Hospice of Michigan, and now includes the newly affiliated member Wings of Hope.

At life’s end, needs change and hospice responds knowingly
UW Medicine [WA]; by Colleen Steelquist; 10/14/26
Q&A: A hospice nurse explains how end-of-life care can help patients and families trade intervention for comfort and connection. Fifty years ago, most Americans with terminal illnesses died in hospitals, often receiving hard-hitting treatments that they might have avoided had they truly understood their prognosis. Today, that portion is under a third. The rise of hospice care, which Medicare began covering in the early 1980s, is largely responsible for this sea change. Centered explicitly on pain control and quality of life, hospice offers patients and families permission to stop aggressive interventions, to focus on comfort over cure, and sometimes to be at home... [Amrit Singh, a hospice nurse care coordinator at Harborview Medical Center] explained the benefits of hospice care in a Q&A...

SOS Y1 A31 – How many hospices are there in the USA???
Substack; by Joan Teno; 9/21/26
This analysis asks how many hospices listed in federal data appear to be functioning, “real” hospice programs. Although 6,669 hospices were listed in the August 2026 refresh, many lacked patient experience data, had very small numbers of deaths, or were not shown in PECOS as able to bill Medicare. The biggest concern is the large group of unrated hospices with fewer than 50 deaths, especially because many are for-profit and concentrated in a few states such as California and Texas. Using several screening rules, the estimate of likely real hospices may be substantially lower than the total number listed, potentially closer to 3,600–5,200 depending one of my 3 proposed rules. Overall, the findings suggest that public hospice listings may include many programs that are inactive, questionable, or no longer able to participate meaningfully in Medicare.

HopeWest Gala raises funds for Delta County families experiencing aging, serious illness, and grief
Delta County Independent [CO]; by HopeWest; 10/13/26
This year’s HopeWest Gala, themed “A Night of Romantic Renaissance,” transformed the Bill Heddles Recreation Center on Sept. 19 into a world of fiery dragons and faraway castles. The sold-out event raised more than $77,000 to support HopeWest programs and services throughout Delta County. 323 guests gathered in support of the HopeWest mission to profoundly change the way the community experiences aging, serious illness and grief, one family at a time.

Palm Beach caretaker accused of stealing more than $10K from elderly woman
WPBF; by Vanessa Laurent; 10/14/26
A longtime live-in caretaker is facing felony charges after police said she stole thousands of dollars from an elderly Palm Beach woman with dementia, including through checks allegedly made out to herself.
Publisher's note: While not specifically about hospice, this is an important reminder about caring for vulnerable patients.

[Tanzania] Partnership in practice: How Tanzanian and United States leaders are advancing palliative care
eHospice; 10/15/26
A two-decade partnership between Global Partners in Care (GPIC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) shows how sustained, reciprocal learning can expand access to palliative care and inspire new models of community-based support in both Tanzania and the United States. GPIC (formerly the Foundation of Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa – FHSSA) and ELCT have worked together to advance palliative care in Tanzania and the United States. In Tanzania, the partnership has expanded services for orphans and vulnerable children, those with life-threatening illnesses, and populations affected by HIV/AIDS. In the United States, lessons from Tanzanian partners have strengthened community-based approaches to palliative care.

[Canada] Expert Q&A: New palliative care resource for frontline workers supports people experiencing homelessness
University of Victoria press release; by Stephanie Harrington; 10/13/26
National curriculum builds on community expertise. A new palliative and end-of-life care resource is providing frontline workers nationally with tools and strategies to better support people who are aging with serious illness alongside poverty and homelessness. The University of Victoria-led collective of researchers, frontline workers and palliative care practitioners launched the new curriculum at the Montreal International Congress on Palliative Care. Kelli Stajduhar is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health at UVic and professor in the School of Nursing and Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health. She heads the UVic research program that developed the curriculum, called Palliative Care Is… Strengthening Community-Based Approaches to Palliative and End-of-life care in Homeless and Harm Reduction Settings.

The ache of watching someone slowly fade away
eHospice; by Riddhi Tomar; 10/9/26
No one prepares you for the grief of gradual disappearance. For loving someone who is still here, and yet, in ways both visible and invisible, is already beginning to leave. For watching familiarity fade while your love remains exactly where it has always been. People who visit after a month or even weeks often say, “He was alright the last time I saw him. How did things change so quickly?” But the truth is, they didn’t change quickly. We watched every inch of the journey...

Developing effective and efficient leadership teams
Forbes; by Ryan Dewey Smith; 10/13/26
[Based on the documentary Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds], Guy Legare and I began discussions applicable to our leadership on four themes that stood out to me:

1. Trust unconditionally
2. Count on others to do their jobs as if their lives depend on it
3. Never lower standards to accommodate poor execution
4. Welcome feedback and criticism as a gift to become better

When clinical AI becomes a safety issue, cybersecurity stops being optional
Netcrook / Industrial Cybersecurity & Critical Infrastructure; by Netaegis; 10/14/26
[Health Sector Coordinating Council’s Cybersecurity's] HSCC’s new AI clinical resilience playbook reflects a hard truth in healthcare: if artificial intelligence touches care delivery, then patient safety, operational continuity, and cyber risk have to be managed together. Healthcare has spent years treating AI as an efficiency tool. The more clinical systems depend on it, the more the risk picture changes. A new playbook from [HSCC's] Working Group puts that shift into plain terms by framing AI resilience as a clinical and security problem at the same time. The practical takeaway is simple but important: in healthcare, AI is not just software. It can sit inside workflows that affect diagnosis, monitoring, documentation, scheduling, and care coordination. That means failures, unexpected behavior, or tampering can carry consequences that go beyond IT disruption.

The cost of aging at home: Why caregiving can quickly become a burden for Florida families
WINK Investigates [FL]; by Olivia Jean; 10/13/26
For many older adults, staying in the home they know and love is the goal. However, when a loved one needs help bathing, getting dressed, preparing meals, taking medication, or simply getting through the day, families can quickly discover that care comes with a significant price tag.

Being in healthcare is assessing your patient's neuro status by asking what day it is... then checking your watch to see if they're right because you have no clue what day it is...