Literature Review

Board finalizes acquisition of Hugh Chatham's share of Mountain Valley MtAiryNews.com, Mt. Airy, NC; by Ryan Kelly; 1/23/26 The Surry County Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday the final agreements needed for Northern Hospital District to acquire Hugh Chatham Health’s 50% ownership stake in Hospice of Surry County, which operates as Mountain Valley, completing a transaction announced six months ago. The board, sitting as the governing body of Northern Hospital District, unanimously approved a member interest purchase agreement that makes the hospital district sole owner of the hospice organization. 

Husband with Parkinson's was admitted into at-home hospice program and has dramatically improved. Have others experienced this? Aging Care; by Klwolf; 1/21/26 My DH has Parkinson’s that has been getting progressively worse for months. In early December we had him assessed for hospice and he was admitted. Since then, he’s improved dramatically. Has anyone else experienced dramatic improvement AFTER hospice enrollment? The hospice staff simply shrugs and says this sometimes happens and that we need to be prepared for him to revert back to his previous state. Editor's Note: Many clinicians have seen individuals improve after hospice enrollment, often due to better symptom control, reduced stress, or consistent interdisciplinary care. The concern here is not the improvement itself, but the hospice team’s reported response. A shrug can feel dismissive to families already living with uncertainty. How do we teach teams to communicate about improvement—honoring hope while preparing families with clarity, compassion, and trust?

Healthcare trends & transactions: Year in review - January 2026 JD Supra; by Meredith Edwards Collins, David Cox, Katie D. Asquith, Lara Flatau, Ali Gallagher, Angela Humphreys, Zoebedeh Malakpa, Tatjana Paterno, Cynthia Reisz, Mariah R. Rhodes, Marc Rigsby, Morgan Tandy, David Wilson; 1/22/26 At the end of 2024, we predicted that the healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market would pick up steam in 2025, given the combination of decreasing interest rates, a potential shift in the regulatory landscape with the new presidential administration and growing comfort and familiarity with new state reporting requirements related to physician practice management (PPM) and other healthcare transactions.

A legacy of compassion: Sargent family dedicates the Aroostook House of Comfort dining room The County, Presque Isle, ME; 1/15/26 The Aroostook Hospice Foundation is honored to announce a $25,000 gift from the Sargent family, made in loving memory of Iffy Sargent, who passed away on Jan. 14, 2025. This generous gift dedicates the Family Dining Room at the Aroostook House of Comfort, a central gathering space within the home. The Family Dining Room offers patients, families, and staff a place to gather, share meals and experience comfort and connection during life’s most tender moments. Designed to feel like a real home rather than a medical facility, the space supports essential, everyday moments of normalcy — conversation, shared meals and quiet time together. 

Retirement for Beth Dorsk: Her day is her own Jewish News; by Terri Denison; 1/15/26 A Virginia Beach native, Beth Koonan Dorsk retired as a hospice nurse in 2025.  She agreed to share with Jewish News some of her reasons for retiring and how it’s working out.Editor's Note: True to hospice and palliative care's core principle for personalized choices, explore others' choices in today's post, "I'm still working in the medical field at 83. My husband doesn't need me at home staring at him all day — I want to be productive."

I'm still working in the medical field at 83. My husband doesn't need me at home staring at him all day — I want to be productive. Business Insider; as told to Noah Sheidlower by Barbara Ford; 1/15/26 This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Barbara Ford, an 83-year-old registered nurse and patient advocate for a healthcare company. Ford's husband worked into his 80s until some health issues led him to retire. Editor's Note: For more, visit a compilation of Noah Sheidlower's similar interviews, "Read Business Insider's stories and watch our video after nearly 200 interviews with workers over 80." Also, pair this with today's post, "Retirement for Beth Dorsk: Her day is her own."

Alliance responds to MedPAC vote on home health and hospice payment recommendations National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 1/15/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is alarmed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) vote today to approve draft recommendations that would significantly reduce home health payment rates by 7% for calendar year 2027 and eliminate payment updates for hospice care in fiscal year 2027.  ... For hospice, the elimination of payment updates would reduce spending by $250 million to $750 million over one year and between $1 billion and $5 billion over five years. Editor's Note: Pair this with another post in our newsletter today, "AMA ‘disappointed’ in MedPAC for backing off deeper Medicare pay reform."

All hands on deck: A case report of an interdisciplinary team preventing elder financial abuse at a skilled nursing facilityCureus; by Grace Yi, Nicholas S. Cho, Karen Galvez-Maquindang, Christine Sun, Navid Darouian; 12/25Elder financial abuse (EFA) is a common but under-reported form of maltreatment among elderly individuals. This case describes an 84-year-old woman with cognitive deficits residing in a skilled nursing facility (SNF), who was exploited by a purported friend who took funds, important documents, and attempted to designate herself as the patient’s power of attorney. The situation was quickly identified by the multidisciplinary care team at the SNF and mitigated through early action and collaboration. The case emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary efforts to identify at-risk patients and the establishment of protocols surrounding abuse identification and reporting to protect elderly patients from financial exploitation and preserve their autonomy, dignity, and quality of life.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

My favorite thing is when you stop petting a dog, and he puts his paw on you like "we're not done here". ~Charlie Brown

"The lack of preparation compounds provider grief": Results from a needs assessment on grief training delivered to pediatric residentsClinical Pediatrics; by Erin Hickey, Erica L Jamro; 12/25Educational interventions to prepare pediatric residents to care for grieving people are rare.  Pediatric residents completed a survey conducted from March to April 2022 that assessed their experience, attitudes, skills, and knowledge of organizational support related to caring for grieving patients and families.  Despite improvements in competence with delivering difficult news with years in residency ... , only 35.7% felt competent by PGY3/4 [post-graduate year 3]. Only 19.5% of residents overall believe adequate grief support exists within their training program. Opportunities for residents to receive formal grief training are inadequate.