Literature Review

Heart to Heart Hospice of San Antonio opens new hospice housePress release; by Kimberly Dellinger; 5/23/24Heart to Heart Hospice plans to expand inpatient services with the opening of the only freestanding Hospice House in the San Antonio area. Heart to Heart Hospice, a leader in hospice services since 2003, is currently building a Hospice House as an extension of its service offerings to patients and families in the San Antonio community, opening Summer of 2024.

Hosparus Health opens new multimillion dollar St. Matthews grief centerLouisville Business Journal; by Zak Owens; 5/23/24Hosparus Heallth unveils $4 million grief center on its St. Matthews campus.Note: May require subscription to access entire article.

Experts urge Legislature to pass bill preventing for-profit and private equity hospice in New York Spectrum News 1; by Susan Arbetter; 5/21/24The FBI has issued public warnings about hospice fraud in four states — Texas, Arizona, Nevada and California. The bureau is alerting consumers to a wide-spread scam in which patients are enrolled in hospice without their knowledge by recruiters who “sell” hospice care to people who aren’t actually eligible. ...  One reason fraudsters have yet to gain a foothold in New York is that new hospices here go through a “Certificate of Need” process (CON) which reviews applications, provides for public comment and ensures that hospice operators don’t have a history of fraud or abuse. But according to Jeanne Chirico, president and CEO of the Hospice & Palliative Care Association of NYS (HPCANYS), and Kara Travis, president and CEO of Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, and a trustee of HPCANYS, there’s more that New York can do to protect consumers. They are urging lawmakers to pass a bill carried by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Amy Paulin that would prohibit the establishment of new for-profit hospices in the state (A6032 - Paulin / S6460 – Krueger).

Legacy society honors ardent supporters of Blue Ridge HospiceThe Winchester Star; by Brian Brehm; 5/21/24 Blue Ridge Hospice holds its cofounder in such high esteem, it has created a legacy society and named it in her honor. The new Helen Zebarth Legacy Society aims to honor Zebarth’s vision, inspire philanthropy and ensure the continuity of compassionate end-of-life care for generations to come, according to a media release from Blue Ridge Hospice in Winchester. Blue Ridge Hospice was formed after Zebarth visited England while her husband, Roger, was stationed in Europe on a military assignment in the 1970s. When the Zebarths returned to the United States in the late 1970s, Helen Zebarth, a former nurse at Winchester Memorial Hospital, got in touch with the hospital’s CEO, George Caley, and told him they needed to start a local hospice. Editor's Note: May we learn from Blue Ridge Hospice. On this day of remembering, we thank those whose vision and perseverance for "hospice care" carved out new paths for better living, dying, moments of death, and bereavement. Who were those pioneers for your hospice? How do you remember their legacies?

Avow honors local veterans at  8th Annual Armed Forces Celebration Avow Cares; Press Release; 5/23/24 Local Veterans from various branches of the military convened at Avow’s 8th Annual Armed Forces Celebration. The event, held on May 17 provided a tribute to those who have served or are currently serving our nation with valor and sacrifice. ... This annual celebration not only serves as a day of deep respect and gratitude but also as a crucial part of Avow’s ongoing commitment to recognizing the heroic service of our Veterans. Throughout the year, Avow distributes approximately 2,000 pins to honor veterans for their service. ... Avow is a Level 5 Partner with We Honor Veterans, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in collaboration with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). In 2023, nearly 25% of all hospice patients admitted to Avow were identified as Veterans.

Nurse charged with stealing pills while taking care of hospice patient Fox56; by Emily Cherkauskas; 5/22/24Pennsylvania State Police say a registered nurse stole hundreds of prescription pills while taking care of a hospice patient. According to Pennsylvania State Police, on Feb. 12, troopers were contacted by the director of operations at the Amedisys Home Health / Hospice Care. Troopers were told that Registered Nurse Ashley Laura Miller, 36, of Mohrsville, had become a suspect in the theft and diversion of Oxycodone and Ativan prescriptions. ... [Upon] the passing of the patient, an additional nurse noted that 200 Oxycodone and 30 Ativan pills were missing from the narcotics count. ... On Wednesday, May 22, Miller was arraigned with bail set at $5000.

Church group fashions 'dignity quilts' for palliative care unitCanada - Local Journalism Initiative; by Wayne Doyle; 5/22/24It’s such a simple thing. But the volume of respect it signifies is unimaginable. The impact it has on surviving family members, equally so. It’s called ‘code dove’ and it’s a special paging phrase; ... staff and residents join the family of the deceased as they gather at the front entrance to say goodbye as the resident leaves the home for the last time. “When our residents are leaving, they exit through the front lobby, the same way they came in,” said Peggy Sauve, assistant director of resident care at the IOOF on Brooks Street in Barrie. “It’s all about respect for the individual and their family. “We hold flameless candles, play their favourite music and take one last chance to say goodbye,” she added. ... As the resident leaves the home for the last time, their body is covered with a dignity quilt, designed and handmade by members of the Elmvale Presbyterian Church Craft group.

State-level initiatives tackle language-based barriers to worker training, testing McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 5/20/24Foreign-born workers account for 27% of the nation’s direct care workforce, but many states maintain strict, English-only testing and training requirements that can prevent some immigrants from entering the workforce, according to the results of a new analysis. PHI looked at five state initiatives working to address those language-based barriers to workforce training and certification with a goal of expanding opportunities for workers who do not speak English as their primary language. PHI highlighted initiatives in five states — California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Wisconsin — using approaches deemed innnovative to make progress in addressing language access barriers for direct care workers. [Click on the title's link for solutions these five states are using.]

Healthcare sees highest Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in 15 years: reportMcKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 5/20/24Chapter 11 bankruptcies in healthcare, including senior living reached a multiyear high in the first quarter of 2024. That’s according to the newest Polsinelli-TrBK Distress Indices Report, published Wednesday. “We continue to see intense stress in senior living,” Jeremy R. Johnson, a bankruptcy and restructuring attorney at Polsinelli and co-author of the report, said in a press release issued in conjunction with the report. ... The Southeast continues to outpace the rest of the country as the busiest region for bankruptcy filings, according to the report. The Southeast region reported 33.4% of the filings in the first quarter, followed by Northeast and Delaware at 30.8% and 16.1%, respectively. Since the benchmark period of 2020, the Northeast has shown the biggest increase in filings.

Vitas’ acquisition pipeline likely growing Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/15/24 Vitas Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. is gearing up for potential acquisitions. ... VITAS is targeting its home state of Florida and other Certificate of Need (CON) states for potential deals, Michael Witzeman, vice president, CFO and controller at Chemed said during the Bank of America Securities Health Care Conference. “We certainly think that there’s a pipeline growing, and we have the resources on our balance sheet with cash and no debt to be able to really be a player in any of these,” Witzeman said. “We would like to be in states that have CON restrictions much more than an unrestricted state, but we certainly have the interesting inability when things come available to be able to jump on them.” ...

The human side of AI: Insights on balancing automation and empathy Innovation & Tech Today; by Enrico Palmerino; 5/20/24 ... As AI automates more tasks with clinical precision, empathy is a critical human element we cannot overlook. That intangible ability to understand and share the feelings of another isn’t just a soft skill — it’s an essential catalyst for trust, loyalty, and genuine connection. Consider the healthcare industry, where empathy is (quite literally) often a matter of life and death. Can an AI-powered diagnostic system truly grasp a patient’s fear and vulnerability when facing a serious illness? ... Finding the delicate balance between leveraging AI automation and preserving human empathy is the new challenge before us. It’s a duality that will shape how businesses operate and how we interact with technology. ... Let the machines optimize processes while we optimize the ability to connect and inspire. In this harmonious future, AI is a tool that elevates us — not replaces us.Editor's Note: Is AI a hot topic among your leaders and interdisciplinary clinicians? Often, "empathy" and "communication" are cited as key cautions and conflicts. See the previous article, "Nurses don't trust employers to safely implement AI tools, survey shows."

Psychological trauma can worsen symptom burden at end-of-life Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/15/24 Recent research has found that traumatic experiences can lead to increased pain and symptom burden at the end of life, along with a greater likelihood of emotional suffering and isolation. Collective trauma experiences have been associated with higher instances of pain and dyspnea among more than half of seniors nationwide, a recent study found, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Traumatized seniors are also more likely to experience loneliness, dissatisfaction with their life and depression. ... Hospices need a greater understanding of both the depth of these patients’ suffering and the scope of their unique needs to improve trauma-informed care delivery, [Dr. Ashwin] Kotwal said, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Division of Geriatrics.