2025 Pediatric Facts and Figures Report now available 
National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/8/26 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) published the 2025 Pediatric Facts and Figures, a report that provides an overview of pediatric palliative care and hospice in the United States and presents the results of a national survey of providers. The survey that informed the report had a response rate of 56% and yielded 295 entries representing distinct pediatric programs. Responses represent all 50 states and Washington, DC, and the survey was active from May through August of 2024. The report takes a close look at topics like pediatric patient characteristics, location and access to care, reimbursement for care, provider characteristics, barriers and facilitators to care, and concurrent care.  [Download]

Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice appoints Dr. Lee-Anne West as Chief Executive Officer 
Montgomery & Prince George's Hospice, Rockville, MD; Press Release; 6/23/26
Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice is pleased to announce that Dr. Lee-Anne West has been appointed Chief Executive Officer by the organization’s Board of Directors following her service as Interim CEO since January 2026. ... “Dr. West has demonstrated exceptional leadership, compassion, and strategic vision during her time as Interim CEO,” said Justin G. Reaves, Chair of the Board of Directors for Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice. “The Board has full confidence in her ability to lead this organization into its next chapter while remaining deeply committed to the mission and values that have guided Montgomery & Prince George’s Hospice for 45 years.

What’s broken in American healthcare—and how to fix it | part one 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Don Berwick; 7/8/26
What if the greatest challenge facing American healthcare isn’t a lack of innovation—but a system that rewards the wrong incentives? In this compelling new episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Don Berwick—former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and one of the most respected voices in healthcare quality—to discuss the forces shaping healthcare today and what leaders can do to change its future.

Hospice of New York revamps hospital-based Hospice IPU, Palliative Program 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/8/26 
Hospice of New York has reinvigorated its inpatient unit at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, as well as developed an inpatient palliative care program. The program begins with one nurse practitioner and one social worker. Today it not only includes those disciplines, but also an attending physician and two nurses, according to founding nurse practitioner Simon Ubabov of Hospice of New York. Ubabov manages the palliative care service while the attending physician oversees the hospice inpatient unit. “Palliative care, hospice IPUs increase not just objectively the patient’s experience, not just the monetary remuneration that the facility gets, but more importantly the overall care that these patients get at the end of life,” Ubabov told Hospice News.

The meaning of TIME 
HSJ Online; by Todd Grimes; 7/8/26 
I would argue that when it comes right down to it, all any of us have is TIME. What we choose to do with the TIME we are given is up to each of us as individuals. Some days we might wish for TIME to speed up - yet on others we might wish for TIME to slow down. Most of us have even had moments - here and there - that we wish could stand still. ... It was about 50 months ago - lying in my hospital bed - when I learned of my pancreatic cancer diagnosis. ... TIME has become more a state of being and less about where the hands on a clock might be positioned. ...

CMS’ proposed Palliative Care Benefit: What we know so far 
CHAP - Community Health Accreditation Partner; free webinar to be presented by Dr. Jennifer Kennedy and Dr. Mary Lynn McPherson; to be presented 7/15/26 
CMS recently released the FY 2027 Hospice proposed rule and the CY 2027 Home Health proposed rule, both of which address community-based palliative care. Join CHAP for a review of CMS's proposed changes, including new requests for feedback, clarification on the provision of skilled palliative care services under existing Medicare home health benefits, and planned future guidance on covered palliative care services. We'll also discuss how CMS distinguishes palliative care from hospice care and its role in supporting patients with serious illness who continue to receive life-prolonging treatment. 

Straight from the source: DOJ, OIG, and CMS on fraud and abuse enforcement in 2026 and beyond 
Mondaq | Legal 500 | Intelligence; by Lorel Writh and Lisa Re; 7/7/26  
The American Health Law Association (AHLA) Conference wrapped up today, and its closing general session brought together three federal enforcers: Kim Brandt, Deputy Administrator and COO of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); Susan Gillin, Assistant Inspector General for Legal Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Brenna Jenny, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Fraud Section. AHLA CEO David Cade moderated. Across the hour, the panel previewed how the three agencies intend to coordinate fraud and abuse enforcement in 2026 and beyond, emphasizing interagency collaboration, a shift from chasing improper payments to preventing them, and the connection between program integrity and affordability.

• Interagency Collaboration ...
• From “Pay and Chase” to “Detect and Prevent” ...
• Affordability Meets Program Integrity ...
• Qui Tam and the Road Ahead ...

Qualitative evaluation of an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved online hospice and palliative medicine fellowship program 
Oxford Academic | Academic Medicine - A Journal of the AAMC; by Katherine T Morrison, MD, Regina M Fink, PhD, APRN, CHPN, Kelly Arora, PhD, David Nowels, MD, Melissa C Palmer, JD, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C, Tai Lockspeiser, MD, MHPE, Hareklia Brackett, APRN, MS, CNS, ACHPN , Darcy Campbell, AGNP-C, ACHPN, Maurice Scott, MD, Frank Amos Bailey, MD; July 2026 
In 2020, the University of Colorado School of Medicine launched the Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine (CHPM) Fellowship, a part-time, innovative, online fellowship for midcareer physicians. The 3- to 4-year specialty training program, which includes completing a master of science in palliative care, was created to address the increasing need for palliative care physicians in communities with underdeveloped hospice and palliative medicine resources. This model enables fellows to remain in their communities and clinical practices while completing training leading to board certification. Guided by the Kirkpatrick Model, this program evaluation examined the fellows’ perceptions of the program’s effectiveness as a training model.

Frazier Healthcare Partners announces definitive agreement to acquire MatrixCare 
WKOW-17 ABC | Businenss Wire; Press Release; 7/7/26 
Frazier Healthcare Partners ("Frazier"), a private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MatrixCare (the “Company”) from Resmed (NYSE & ASX: RMD). MatrixCare is a leading provider of cloud-based EHR software purpose-built for out-of-hospital care settings, including skilled nursing, senior living, home health, hospice, and life plan communities. ... The transaction includes MatrixCare and related software offerings historically sold under the MatrixCare brand, including Healthcare First, Citus, and home health and hospice solutions.

Former Skowhegan nonprofit director seeks early end to probation for thefts 
CentralMaine.com, Skowhegan, ME; by Jake Freudber; 7/8/26 
Jason Gayne has paid the $70,000 in restitution owed to the Skowhegan Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Hospice Volunteers of Somerset County. ... Gayne has completed hundreds of hours of community service, well beyond what he was ordered to do. He has focused on providing for his family. And he has never violated the conditions of his probation. ... Now Superior Court Chief Justice Robert E. Mullen will determine whether to approve Gayne’s request for an early end to his probation. Gayne’s request, if granted, would effectively shave two years from the term included in his sentence.

[Germany] Doctor with “lust for murder” convicted in deaths of 15 patients in Germany, sentenced to life in prison 
Europe Says; 7/8/26 
A German palliative care doctor accused of killing 15 patients and described by prosecutors as having “a lust for murder” was convicted Wednesday and sentenced to life in prison. The 41-year-old Berlin doctor, identified only as Johannes M., allegedly killed 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024 using deadly cocktails of sedatives. On at least five occasions, he allegedly set fire to the victims’ apartments to cover up the killings. ... The doctor allegedly “administered an anesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients without their knowledge or consent,” the Berlin prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “The latter paralyzed the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes.”

Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. ~ Joseph Campbell