Literature Review

Valentine’s Day can be difficult for those missing a spouse or significant other: Tips for those missing a loved one, and how to comfort those in grief Santa Barbara Independent; Santa Barbara, CA; by Hospice of Santa Barbara; 2/10/26 ...[For] those who are coping with the loss of a partner or loved one, Valentine’s Day can trigger overwhelming feelings of loneliness, grief, and isolation, with seasonal décor serving as a constant reminder of the loss. Valentine’s Day can be particularly challenging for someone who is grieving the loss of a partner or spouse because the day is designed around devoting energy and time to that particular person. ... Hospice of Santa Barbara suggests these tips to help cope when missing that special someone on Valentine’s Day:

New Jersey's new Community-Based Palliative Care Medicaid (CBPC)  State of New Jersey - Department of Human Services - Division of Medical Assistance & Health Services; email and website notifications; 2/9/26 Community-Based Palliative Care is a benefit available to NJ Family Care members, starting April 1, 2026. The benefit was signed into the law by Governor Murphy on December 21, 2023, underscoring the state's commitment to supporting residents facing serious illness. Community-Based Palliative Care (CBPC) is designed to support people living with serious health conditions by helping manage symptoms, coordinating care, and making the healthcare system easier to navigate. You can receive CBPC while continuing your current treatments. CBPC is not hospice; a terminal diagnosis is not required. It is designed to give you extra support alongside the care you already receive.

Oregon lawmakers consider tightening hospice oversight over fraud, abuse concerns The Lund Report; by Lynne Terry; 2/10/26For the second year in a row, Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill designed to tighten state oversight of the hospice industry, which has been rife with fraud and abuse. Senate Bill 1575 aims to block new hospices from Oregon that have committed fraud or neglected patients in other states. It would require the Oregon Health Authority to review the past history of companies seeking to operate new hospices, ensure they have enough financing to serve patients for about a year and run criminal background checks on the proposed administrator, medical director and any owners with more than a 5% stake in the company.Editor's Note: Dr. Cordt Kassner--owner/publisher of this newsletter and owner/data expert for Hospice Analytics, was interviewed for this article. His data provides insight on Oregon's hospice provider growth, for-profits and non-profits, and comparisons with nearby states.

EMS at 60: The past, present, and future of our profession Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS); by David Ferris; 2/10/26 This year, 2026, marks sixty years since the birth of organized national EMS in the United States, and I’ve been fortunate—or maybe stubborn—enough to ride in the back of an ambulance for more than half of that history. For 34 years I’ve carried a radio, a drug box, and the weight of responsibility that comes with being a paramedic. In that time, I’ve watched EMS evolve from the Wild West of guesswork and tradition into a profession grounded in evidence, outcomes, and community health. What follows isn’t just a timeline of milestones; it’s the story of EMS through my own eyes, ...Editor's Note: Whose life--in your life--has been saved (or significantly helped) by Emergency Medical Services?  Memories through the years break through my take-it-for-granted view. While in hospice we tend to downplay EMS calls and hospitalization, join me in gratitude for the timely, life-saving and mitigation of horrific outcomes provided 24/7 by EMS care. 

Community supports Hospice East despite winter weather The Winchester Sun, Winchester, KY;  by John Chaney; 2/8/26 Despite a fresh layer of snow from the night before, a steady stream of supporters filled the Winchester Elks Lodge #2816 on Saturday, February 7, 2026, for its monthly charity breakfast fundraiser benefiting Hospice East. ... The Elks Lodge hosts various buffet breakfasts on the first Saturday of each month from September through March, with all proceeds going to a selected local charity. ...  “Hospice does so much good for grieving families and it’s a great organization to give back to,” Johnson said of this month’s recipient. ... Approximately 15 volunteers helped prepare and serve the meal, working toward the lodge’s typical goal of raising about $3,500 per event.Editor's Note: These kinds of community fundraisers raise more than money. They raise memories. Sharing a meal together evokes meaningful around the tables, among those preparing and serving food, and instill a sense of both receiving and giving. While dollar amounts are smaller than large galas, "meaning" amounts are immeasurable.

Tell us more: Episode 3-Shirley Otis-GreenJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Shirley Otis-Green, MSW, MA, ACSW, LCSW, OSW-CE, FNAP, FAOSW, Yilong Peng, MD, William E. Rosa, PhD, MBE, APRN, and Richard E. Leiter, MD, MA; 2/9/26 The Journal of Palliative Medicine’s “Tell Us More: The Palliative Care Oral History Project,” seeks to tell the story of Hospice and Palliative Care through informal interviews with pivotal leaders in the field. In each episode, hosts Drs. Ricky Leiter and Billy Rosa, along with research assistant Dr. Yilong Peng, sit down with an HAPC luminary and do what our field does best—ask questions, listen, and reflect. In the third episode, Drs. Leiter and Rosa interviewed Ms. Shirley Otis-Green, founder of Collaborative Caring and a pioneer in palliative social work. What follows is a transcript of their conversation, edited lightly for clarity.

How an ethics course can prep you for med school: It can strengthen communication and empathy and help with complex treatment and research decisions. U.S. News & World; by Neha Raju; 2/10/26 Medical school applicants often focus on the most tangible parts of preparation: grades, MCAT scores, clinical hours and research. Ethics courses, when considered at all, are sometimes treated as peripheral or “nice to have” rather than genuinely useful. That view misses how central ethical reasoning has become ...

Experiencing grief this Valentine's Day? VITAS® Healthcare launches Valentine Helpline in Florida PR Newswire, Miramar, FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 2/10/26 As Valentine's Day approaches, a time often associated with love and connection, many people experience heightened feelings of grief, loneliness or emotional strain after the loss of a loved one or while anticipating an impending loss. To support those navigating these complex emotions, VITAS Healthcare will host a Valentine Helpline on Saturday, Feb. 14, offering free, confidential grief support to Florida residents.

CommonSpirit Health at Home’s ‘aggressive’ hospice growth strategy for 2026 and beyond Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/10/26 Continuing its de novo- and joint venture-based blueprint for growth, home health and hospice provider CommonSpirit Health at Home is also setting plans in motion to engage patients further upstream for earlier hospice enrollment, when appropriate. CommonSpirit Health at Home is the home-based care arm of the nonprofit health system CommonSpirit Health, which operates more than 2,200 care sites across 24 states. Hospice News caught up with CommonSpirit Health at Home CEO Trisha Crissman at the Home Care 100 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss CommonSpirit Health at Home’s strategic plans for 2026, as well as the top trends and market forces shaping the hospice community.

Hospice doctor shares what happens in the moments immediately after death Good; by Adam Albright Hanna; 2/3/26 Throughout human history, one question has bewildered every civilization, society, and individual. What happens after we die? For some people, it is a question for science. For others, it is a question of faith. But for Dr. B.J. Miller, it is a question that he is totally fine not knowing the answer to. Miller is a hospice and palliative care physician at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of the world's leading voices on dignified death, and for him, the end of life is actually about the living. ... "I’ve been around people who are just about to die," Miller said. "Bodies that have just died. And there is this lingering sense, it’s true. There’s a feeling. It’s a palpable... yeah, there’s a lingering." ... "I didn’t need to have control over everything, I didn’t need to know the answers anymore. I mean, I love not knowing. The answer’s unimportant. It’s just a sacred and gorgeous moment."Editor's Note: Having served in direct hospice patient care from 1993–2002, I was present with many persons during their active dying and in the moments just after death, including attending deaths as a chaplain. Over time—and especially through the intimate experience of my parents’ deaths—that sense of sacredness Dr. Miller describes remains real for me. So I find myself wondering and asking non-clinical leaders: when you look at Average Daily Census (ADC), Length of Stay (LOS), and other familiar metrics, what do you see? Numbers on a spreadsheet? Or living measures of something immeasurably human—something that truly matters?

‘Behind the Blue’: Lindsay Ragsdale on growing pediatric health care and supporting Project ADAMUK Now, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY; by Allison Perry and Kody Kiser; 2/6/26 From College of Medicine research labs to the halls of UK HealthCare, Lindsay Ragsdale, M.D., has spent much of her career at the University of Kentucky. Now the chief medical officer for Golisano Children’s at UK, she oversees a growing team of specialists and subspecialists dedicated to providing the most complex care for the children of Kentucky. In this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Ragsdale discusses her career at UK, the role of palliative care, the growth of the children’s hospital and her own son’s experience as a pediatric cardiology patient.

Woman who allegedly stole $3.2m from Medicare boasted about lavish home Complex; by Helen Storms; 2/7/26 A California woman has been arrested after allegedly stealing $3.2 million from Medicare as part of an elaborate hospice scam. The woman, identified as 49-year-old Flor Mora, shared photos of the lavish $4 million dream home she bought from the funds she is accused of stealing before being hit with felony charges. Mora purchased the luxurious seaside home located in the Carmel Highlands in Monterey County, California, in November 2025. It would later be featured in the Washington Street Journal and even voted the House of the Year. Little did voters know that Mora had paid for the early 20th-century style home with reportedly stolen funds.

To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then have the courage to blow past them. ~ Picabo Street, Olympic skier 1998