Literature Review

Catholic Hospice executive director retires after 40 years in healthcare management Archdiocese of Miami; by Priscilla Greear; 1/8/25 Dian Backoff retired in December 2024 as executive director of Catholic Hospice, having more than doubled the daily patient census in six years and extended its mission of compassionate end-of-life medical care across the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Miami. Her career spanned 40 years, from nurse to vice president and hospice pioneer—never forgetting the impact of daily nursing care to a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS disease. ... Backoff, 65, likes to remind staff to remember their “why” to help patients experience a peaceful death. Additionally, “their families can experience what we call a good death and not have complicated grief afterwards and not be so distraught that they’re not healthy mentally,” she said.

December ransomware attacks slam healthcare, public services Informa; by Arielle Waldman; 1/9/25 As 2024 wrapped up, ransomware continued to be a prevalent threat for victim organizations in the education, transportation and healthcare sectors. ... Attacks knocked services offline for weeks or months, interrupted students' education and led one victim organization to give in to ransom demand pressures. Like many of the major ransomware attacks throughout 2024, December continued to prove how enduring the threat is. One highly disruptive attack last month occurred against PIH Health in Whittier, Calif., Dec. 1. The attack affected healthcare appointments and services at PIH Health Downey Hospital, PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital and PIH Health Whittier Hospital, as well as urgent care centers, doctors' offices and PIH Health's home health and hospice agency.

How agilon health trains primary care physicians to provide palliative care Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 1/8/25 The senior care company agilon health (NYSE: AGL) has scaled a palliative care education model for its physician partners throughout most of the markets they serve. ... A 2023 study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management found that the primary care-led, integrated approach to palliative care that agilon employs were two-thirds less likely to die in a hospital and on average spent five more days at home near the end of life. Hospice News sat down with agilon’s CMO, Dr. Karthik Rao, to talk about the ways the company prepares physicians to provide palliative care to their most seriously ill patients. [Key goals include:]

Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver extra food ahead of winter storm Fox 4 KDFW, Dallas, TX; by Alex Boyer; 1/8/25 Volunteers are doing their best to help some of North Texas’ most vulnerable people prepare for the winter storm. ... Meals on Wheels in Dallas County is a service provided by the Visiting Nurses Association. Currently, the organization serves about 5,200 homebound seniors and disabled adults throughout the county each weekday. That’s in addition to those in hospice care.

Cybersecurity in 2025: Agentic AI to change enterprise security and business operations in year ahead SC Media; by Stephen Weigand; 1/9/25 In 2025, significant advancements in agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems will drive new AI-based cyber defensives, driving new solutions to help organizations carry out specific goals, making decisions, and taking mitigation action with minimal human intervention. However, as these agentic AI systems become integral to business operations, they will also expose organizations to new risks. Nicole Carignan, VP of strategic cyber AI at Darktrace, highlights that multi-agent AI systems, while offering unparalleled efficiency for complex tasks, will introduce vulnerabilities such as data breaches, prompt injections and data privacy risks.

California wildfires and healthcare: Compiled articlesCompiled from various news sources; 1/9/25

Kirva Hospice CEO: Quality begins with staff education, engagement Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 1/7/25 Long-time hospice CEO Cheryl Hamilton Fried has taken the helm at Kirva Hospice, a new, standalone nonprofit established by the public service organizations Jewish Family Services and Beth Shalom. Kirva serves the Richmond, Virginia, region with plans to expand into contiguous markets. ... About 16% of their patients are of the Jewish faith.Q: What are your top priorities as you take the helm at Kirva? Developing culture, that’s always been big for me. I’ve done that everywhere I’ve gone. A: Developing people, so I’ve already tapped a couple of managers to elevate to directors, as we are growing our census pretty rapidly and really identifying areas that are unmet in the community. That’s what Kirva and Jewish Family Services want to do, is look at where the gaps are in senior care.

Renovus Capital Partners announces strategic partnership with Superior Health Holdings The Alvin Sun, Wayne, PA; by Renovus Capital Partners, LLC; 1/7/25 Renovus Capital Partners ("Renovus") today announced a strategic partnership with Superior Health Holdings, Inc. ("Superior" or the "Company"), a leading provider of home health and hospice services throughout Louisiana. ... Superior was formed in 2021 as an aggregation of several agencies providing similar services throughout Louisiana and has since grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions, led by Chief Executive Officer, David Martin. ... Superior Health Holdings, Inc., based in Baton Rouge, LA, is a full-service family of agencies offering hospice and home health services.

Thinking of our members, colleagues, patients, loved ones, and first responders affected by the SoCal firesCoalition for Compassionate Care of California, Sacramento, CA; by Jennifer Moore Ballentine; 1/8/25, 6:23 pm ET The staff of CCCC are watching as the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and other fires ravage Southern California. Our hearts and thoughts are with all affected. Here are a few tangible ways you can help, even at this early stage.Donate to:

Peter Yarrow, iconic Peter, Paul and Mary singer and former Connecticut Hospice board member, dies CT Insider; by Andrew DaRosa; 1/7/25 Peter Yarrow, one-third of the iconic folk troubadours Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at the age of 86 ... “Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life. The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful, and wise as his lyrics suggest,” Yarrow's daughter, Bethany Yarrow, said in a statement to the Associated Press. ... Yarrow frequently performed in Connecticut and was scheduled to play with Stookey in July at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook. Yarrow also performed at Connecticut Hospice in Branford, where his mother had stayed, according to a 2017 interview with Compassion and Choices. He served on the board for Connecticut Hospice for a number of years. 

End-of-life care can be more aggressive for cancer patients with defibrillators Medical Xpress; by UT Southwestern Medical Center; 1/8/25 Patients with advanced cancer who also had cardiac defibrillators were more likely than those without these implants to receive aggressive end-of-life care, a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found in a new study. The findings, published in Cancer, could help physicians guide patients in this growing population toward care that better matches their goals. ... The findings showed that about 6% of patients with advanced cancer also had [implantable cardioverter defibrillators] ICDs. However, significantly more of the ICD patients received aggressive care during the last month of their lives compared to those without these devices.

In the end, it is importnat to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. ~ Max De Pree

[United Kingdom] More than 100 people in Everest walking challenge BBC News; by Holly-Anne Langlois; Guernsy and Jake Wallace; 1/7/25 More than 100 people are taking part in a community fundraising walking challenge to help support a Guernsey hospice. The Everest Challenge sees teams or individuals walk up the Val De Terres hill 115 times in January, which is equivalent to the height of Mount Everest. Les Bourgs Hospice said the funding will help with its £1.8m annual running costs after a "challenging year" financially in 2024. Fundraising administrator Liz Stonebridge said: "We are very grateful for being chosen as the charity for the challenge this year."