Literature Review

Understanding the hospice journey: care, comfort, and connection in assisted living WriteUpCafe; Oakdale Heights Assisted Living; 8/25/26 Hospice care can feel like unfamiliar territory for families, especially when a loved one is already receiving support in assisted living. It is natural to have questions about what happens next, who provides care, and how everyday needs will be handled. ...

Aging Luzerne County prison population cited as challenge The Dallas Post; by Jennifer Learn-Andes; 8/22/26 During recent legislative testimony about crime trends, Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo highlighted the aging prison population as a concern that must be addressed. Older inmates with “escalating chronic health needs” are contributing to rising medical costs and challenging a prison staff “increasingly called upon to manage geriatric and end-of-life care in a setting never designed for it,” she told the Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee at a hearing earlier this month in Hazleton. “Corrections officers are trained for security, not hospice care,” Crocamo told the legislators, emphasizing “graying behind bars” is an emerging issue statewide. 

Pittsburgh Caregivers get federal lifeline as dementia cases swell across Allegheny County hoodline; by Ryan Miller; 8/21/26 Caregivers looking after loved ones with dementia in Pittsburgh now have a new federal tool to lean on, and it is already showing up at a day center in Squirrel Hill. The Anathan Club, run by the Jewish Association on Aging, has begun connecting families to the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model, a Medicare program that can cover up to $2,500 a year in respite care for qualifying beneficiaries. The Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model, known as GUIDE, was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and launched nationwide on July 1, 2024, as an eight-year voluntary pilot running through June 30, 2032, according to CMS. Nearly 390 provider organizations across the country are participating. 

Chapters Health System announces joint venture with Preferred Care The Best Times, Temple Terrace, FL; Press Release; 8/19/26 Chapters Health System announced today the launch of a new joint venture with Preferred Care, a home health agency in Florida, to expand hospice care in Southwest Florida. The partnership creates a new offering through Preferred Care Hospice, which was granted approval through the certificate of need program to offer vital hospice services in Collier County. "The opportunity to work with Preferred Care to help expand hospice services in Florida is the chance to align with an organization that has the same legacy of quality and exceptional service that is deeply rooted in Chapters Health System," said Andrew Molosky, President and CEO, Chapters Health System. 

Anonymous donor helps Grace House buy Highland Square’s Leonora Hall Signal Akron; Akron, OH; by Shams Mustafa; 8/17/26 A new chapter is beginning for Highland Square’s Leonora Hall after a nonprofit organization, Grace House Akron, purchased the property with the unexpected help of an anonymous donor. ... The acquisition means the property has a new owner following the closure of the Francesca Residence and the displacement of its mostly elderly residents. In a statement, Grace House representative Jen Boroff said that the nonprofit, which provides end-of-life care and housing for people who are indigent, unsheltered or abandoned, sees potential for the site to strengthen its mission and serve the broader community but that the organization has not yet decided how it will use the property.

45 minutes saved per admission: how one hospice is re-shaping their businessHospice News; by Jack Silverstein; 8/17/26When Dar Miller came to Faith Hospice of Arizona two years ago, the organization’s census was just over 100 and their staff worked overtime to enter patient profiles. Now, their average daily census is 135-140, while their nurses have more time available at the bedside and with families. The change? Faith Hospice’s relationship with their pharmacy partner OnePoint Patient Care, whose combination of collaboration, communication, integrated technology and process ensures that hospices are not only getting the best pharmacy service possible, but that their operation is always evolving with the times.

Reports from Duke University describe recent advances in managed care (the South had the lowest rates of hospice and palliative medicine-certified providers in the Us, 2024): managed care Insurance Newsnet; by Staff; 8/13/26 A new study on Managed Care is now available. According to news reporting originating in Durham, North Carolina, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To improve access to care for serious illness, policy makers need evidence on how workforce capacity aligns with the need for palliative care. This study evaluated the palliative care workforce and policy environments at the state level, using a new data source: the 2024 Center to Advance Palliative Care’s comprehensive Serious Illness Scorecard.” Funders for this research include US Department of Veterans Affairs, Duke University, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discover and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Read the study here.

Treasure Coast Hospice launches new website to make hospice referrals easier for families and healthcare providers Cision PRWeb, Stuart, FL; by Treasure Coast Hospice; 8/11/26 Treasure Coast Hospice has launched a newly redesigned website featuring an enhanced online referral experience that makes it easier for healthcare providers, patients, and families to connect with hospice care. The new website was developed to remove common barriers people may face when searching for hospice information and to make the referral process more accessible, efficient, and easy to understand. ... One of the most significant updates is a new online referral form with two distinct pathways: one for healthcare professionals and another for patients and loved ones.

My husband was kicked out of hospice for dying too slowly. Here's what I learned about navigating hospice care. CBS News; by Kim Clark; 8/13/26 It was mid-January 2026, and my then-73-year-old husband, Mike Salmon, had just started bouncing back from a three-month ordeal of three operations related to aortic aneurysms, sepsis, and a terrifying descent into delirium tied to a stay in the intensive care unit. ... Abruptly, we were shunted onto hospice care — the dead-end spur of the American medical system. ... Mike joined that select group. His experience in and out of the hospice system revealed surprising lessons about how families can manage care. And getting removed from hospice revealed a little-known process that can represent a welcome respite for families like ours — but can be devastating for patients with serious chronic illnesses. Here's what we learned in our four months on and off hospice. ...  

The healthcare partnership nobody is talking about: hospice + FQHCs | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Kyle Ahlenstorf; 8/12/26 What if one of hospice’s most valuable community partners has been hiding in plain sight? In Part One of The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs, Chris Comeaux sits down with Kyle Ahlenstorf, CEO of Infinity Health, to explore the largely untapped opportunity for hospice and palliative care organizations to build meaningful partnerships with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).  Kyle brings more than a decade of clinical and executive healthcare experience, with a particular focus on rural healthcare, access, and sustainable patient-centered care. Kyle breaks down what FQHCs actually are, whom they serve, and why their mission aligns so naturally with hospice and palliative care.

Rural health is having a moment. But it still doesn’t feel like enough. HealthIT Answers; by Amy Oliver; 8/9/26Rural health is having a moment. There is $50 billion in federal transformation funding on the table, a wave of state legislation moving through capitols with a trail of confusion, and a public comment period on Medicaid work requirements that recently closed. Layer on the webinars, panels, policy briefs, and LinkedIn posts about rural hospitals, and it is more attention than I have seen in my fifteen years in this industry. ... If you work at a health system or a rural hospital and you are living the gap between what the policy assumes and what your systems can actually do, I would really like to hear from you. I am talking to CIOs, clinicians, and administrators for the next piece in this series, and off the record is completely fine. amy@azulheart.com  

AdventHealth expands at-home hospice care in Haywood County, a breakthrough residents sayWLOS-13 ABC, Haywood Count, NC; by Chloe Adams; 8/5/26 Residents and health leaders said AdventHealth's upcoming expansion of home-based hospice care in Haywood County comes at a critical time and will provide a level of care the community has been missing. The Certificate of Need approval comes after the State Health Coordinating Council determined that the county lacks sufficient hospice capacity to keep pace with the growing demand for end-of-life care, especially as the county experiences population aging, with residents over the age of 65, according to the 2026 Haywood County State Medical Facilities Plan.