Literature Review

Dying without a safety net MedCityNews; by Darren Schulte; 6/21/26 Recently, I reviewed the case of a woman with advanced metastatic breast cancer – we’ll call her Helen. ... As one therapy after another failed, Helen cycled in and out of the hospital: complications from treatment, complications from the cancer itself, and each time the system responded the only way it knew how – rapid escalation, ICU stays, more procedures, more drugs. Finally, a palliative care team was consulted during her last hospitalization. After long family meetings, Helen was discharged to hospice and died days later. Throughout that final year, Helen suffered. No one on her medical team had documented her wishes, preferences, or goals of care. No one had walked her through the trade-offs she faced with each treatment decision. The system did what it was designed to do, and it failed her completely. 

There is not human being from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

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Care Synergy Announces Leadership Transition as CEO Tim Bowen Plans Retirement; Tricia Ford Named CEO ElectCare Synergy press release; 6/19/26Care Synergy President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Bowen has announced his plans to retire on March 2, 2027. To ensure a seamless leadership transition, Care Synergy's Board of Directors has named Hospice Chief Operating Officer Tricia Ford as CEO Elect. The transition plan includes Ford immediately assuming CEO Elect responsibilities while continuing to work closely with Bowen to ensure a seamless transfer of leadership. Bowen will retire on March 2, 2027, at which time Ford will become Chief Executive Officer. Care Synergy also plans to begin a search for a new Chief Operating Officer in the near future.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. ~ Thomas Edison, describing his search for inventing the electric light bulb

I was my mother's caregiver until her death. Four years later, I'm still struggling with the $17,000 medical debt. yahoo!finance; by Julie Peck; 6/20/26 My mom got sick, then gradually, and then all at once. In 2014, she survived a subarachnoid aneurysm that ruptured while she was driving on the West Virginia Turnpike. After stabilizing, she spent six months recovering with me in South Carolina before heading back to her townhouse in my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. Unfortunately, her return was short-lived. Mom had a small stroke a year later, followed by a second, more serious stroke in 2016. The doctors told her it was no longer safe to live alone.

Left behind: Why small-town Americans are waiting longer for healthcare The Brandenton Times; by Stacy Pur, MBA, BSN, RN; 6/18/26 Somewhere in America, a woman with a late-stage cancer diagnosis is sitting in a nursing home on a Friday afternoon. She has chosen to stop active treatment. All she wants now is comfort, seamless pain relief, and the dignity of a gentle, supported care plan. The skilled nursing facility produced a thick paper packet of discharge information. But missing from that package is the one instruction that matters most: an order for hospice care coming from her oncologist. Because hospice and the advance directive were not arranged before the transfer to a hospice wing, and because the paperwork was incomplete, the nursing staff could not coordinate pain management over the weekend. Everything is closed. The patient spends two days without the medication she needs. That is not a hypothetical.

Seniors stitch quilts for hospice patients, turning personal grief into community giving WTXL-27 ABC, Tallahassee, FL; by Tatyana Purifoy; 6/19/26 A group of seniors at the Gadsden County Senior Center is turning thread, fabric, and friendship into comfort for others — forming a quilting club that creates handmade quilts donated to local hospice patients. ... For Rose Jackson, the project is personal. She was eager to partner with hospice because of the care and support her family received when her mother passed away. ... Member Ora Green says the project has given the group more than just something to do. Green is 96 years old and began her quilting journey at age 10. She says the club has given members an opportunity to use their talents to help others.

Hospice, ethics & capitalism:  a powerful conversation with  UVA Darden School of Business — part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Lauren Kaufman and Stephen Maiden; 6/17/26 Few topics spark more debate in healthcare than the intersection of compassionate care, ethical responsibility, and financial sustainability. Will mission-driven hospice organizations survive—and thrive—in a healthcare landscape increasingly dominated by for-profit providers? In Part One of this compelling conversation, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Lauren Kaufmann, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and Stephen Maiden, Managing Director of the Darden Case Writing Research Group. Together, they discuss the groundbreaking business case developed around Teleios Collaborative Network and the evolving hospice industry.

1776-1786: 250 Years - A History of CareHospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy Berger; for 6/10/26Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Chapters Health System awarded $150,000 grant from the Golisano Foundation to expand inclusive pediatric hospice care in Southwest Florida PR Newswire, Temple Terrace, FL; by Chapters Health System; 6/9/26 Chapters Health System, the nation's leading chronic illness innovator and largest nonprofit hospice provider, has received a $150,000 grant from the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation through the Chapters Health Foundation ... The grant will support the launch of "Advancing Inclusive Pediatric Hospice Care," an initiative designed to expand access to developmentally appropriate, family-centered end-of-life care, particularly for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the integration of a Certified Child Life Specialist and Hospital-Hospice Liaison at Hope Healthcare, a Chapters Health affiliate in Fort Myers.

Medicare’s Part A Trust Fund is projected to run short in 2033: 6 costs seniors should watch SavingAdvice; by Drew Blankenship; 6/16/26 ... Recent reports project that Medicare’s Part A Trust Fund could start to run short in 2033, meaning it will be unable to cover 100% of its obligations by that time. ... While Medicare isn’t going to disappear, here are six costs seniors should keep a close eye on.

Designing the dream house of an 87-year-old tech visionary DNYUZ; 6/16/26 Brand’s life has been going for 87 years, but lately the going has been tough. The man known for creating the Whole Earth Catalog—the 1960s countercultural guide to self-sufficiency that Steve Jobs was fond of—has an incurable disease and is down to 130 pounds, an alarming weight for a nearly 6-footer. Brand’s mind is sharp as ever; you can’t talk to the man for five minutes without learning something. ... Brand is a world-class pragmatist and a philosopher of structures; he once wrote a book called How Buildings Learn about how homes and commercial properties evolve over time. ... We do a walk-through of the studio, all 715 square feet of it. Off of the living space, under an arch, is a motorized bed. There are no rails, and it looks nothing like hospital equipment. Brand grabs a remote and playfully shows me how it rises and kneels. The kitchen counters are lower than usual, to accommodate Brand if he ever needs a wheelchair. The bathroom is the space that’s most optimized for accessibility. ...