Literature Review

Dale Clift named new Enhabit CEO post-Kinderhook transactionHospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/18/26Enhabit Inc. has named Dale Clift as its new CEO, succeeding Barbara Jacobsmeyer. The announcement follows closure on Friday of Enhabit’s $1.1 billion acquisition by the private equity firm Kinderhook. The deal took Enhabit off of the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly traded company. Clift brings decades of home health and hospice experience to Enhabit. He previously served as CEO of Trilogy Home Healthcare. He is also the former CEO of Nurse on Call.

Hospitality exec brings hotel playbook to senior living, hits 97% occupancy Pacific Business News, Hawaii; by Cathy Cruz-George; 5/14/26 Mark Tsuda had three decades of hospitality experience when he joined the opening team of Ilima at Leihano, a luxury senior living community in Kapolei, in 2016. He previously was a regional executive for Aston Hotels & Resorts, ... Ilima at Leihano - which provides independent living, assisted living and memory care - has held an occupancy rate of between 95% and 97% over the past six years, supported by 92 employees who balance hotel-style services with healthcare needs and recreation. ... If a resident is in hospice, they can stay with us. Hospice is outsourced to local providers like Malama Ola and Island Hospice, ...

Executive Personnel Changes - 5/15/26

CMS leader explains hospice fraud, Medicare risks, and the future of healthcare | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Kim Brandt; 5/13/26 In this compelling first installment, CMS Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Administrator Kim Brandt joins Chris Comeaux for a candid conversation about the growing hospice fraud crisis, the financial future of Medicare, and the urgent transformation happening across American healthcare. Drawing from her leadership role at CMS and firsthand experiences with hospice care in her own family, Brandt shares why hospice remains a critical pillar of compassionate care — while also exposing the alarming abuse threatening the integrity of the system.

Baylor students learn care as healing in hospice class Waco Tribune-Herald, Waco, TX; by Carl Hoover; 5/12/26 A spring class for Baylor University medical humanities students put them in contact with something that medical training often skirts around: people who are dying and beyond what medicine can heal. The class, a partnership between Baylor and Providence Hospice, exposes students to the dynamics of hospice care through weekly contact with hospice patients, shadowing the routines of social workers, hospice workers and chaplains, plus and regular group discussions with classmates on their experiences. The hospice class was the brainchild of former Baylor medical humanities professor Bill Hoy, who started the class in 2020, recalled Sonya Wilson. Wilson, the volunteer coordinator for Providence Hospice, continues to teach the hospice class in collaboration with Baylor post-doctorate teaching fellow Levi Durham.Editor's Note: Recent newsletter posts about Dr. Bill Hoy include "Bridging the differences in care for grieving people: Worden’s differentiation between grief counseling and grief therapy" and "Not everything that can be counted ..."

AI ethical minefields in clinical decision-making Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/11/26 ... Quickly evolving AI technologies will play a role in hospices’ sustainability as demand rises and workforce resources dwindle. Hospices need innovative care models, which involves leveraging AI in different ways, said Dr. Kimberly Curseen, the new board of directors president at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). ... Ensuring accurate data and safeguarding patient privacy and autonomy can lead companies to run into certain AI ethical “danger zones.” Hospices need to understand the limitations of AI, particularly when considering the use of these technologies to augment clinical decision making, according to Dr. Javier Zaglul, hospice and palliative care fellow at Florida Atlantic University.

HOPE is raising the stakes for hospice compliance HealthIT Answers; by Michelle Barlow, RN, BSN; 5/11/26 Hospice providers are entering a tougher regulatory environment. ... At the center of these changes is the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, which replaced the Hospice Item Set in October 2025. ...

Healthcare leaders break down hospice reform, Medicare & quality care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Tom Koutsoumpas and Carole Fisher; 5/6/26 In Part One of Healthcare Leaders Break Down Hospice Reform, Medicare & Quality Care, Chris Comeaux sits down with nationally respected healthcare leaders Tom Koutsoumpas, Founder & CEO of NPHI and Carole Fisher, President of NPHI to explore the evolving future of hospice, palliative care, Medicare oversight, and the growing demand for quality-driven, compassionate healthcare leadership. Together, they unpack the growing challenges facing end-of-life care — from fraud and benefit manipulation to the urgent need for quality transparency and authentic patient-centered care.

NPHI and C-TAC launch work on a federal community-based model to expand earlier, in-home support for patients nationwideNational Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/7/26The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) and the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), publicly announced today (5/7) their commitment to developing a federal fee-for-service community-based palliative care model aimed at expanding access to care across the United States. This initiative builds on longstanding work across the field to expand access to palliative care, particularly as its use has grown in hospital settings over time. ... Gaps in consistent data and evidence have also made it more difficult to fully demonstrate the impact of earlier, community-based interventions. Through this partnership, NPHI and C-TAC are working to address these challenges by advancing a more sustainable, evidence-driven model for care delivery.

Hospice workers stop by to thank Lila Kozel, founder of hospice care in Bismarck KXNET News CBS, Bismarck, ND; by Joel Porter; 5/1/26 Health care workers in North Dakota made a house call on Friday to a special woman’s house. Workers from CHI Health at Home stopped by Lila Kozel’s home to greet her and thank her. Kozel is credited with starting hospice services in Bismarck in the 1980s. Health workers say Kozel started the program after losing a son, which made her want to give comfort to others as her family handled their grief. Now, Lila is living on hospice care, and the workers say if not for Lila, they’re not sure the program would be what it is.

Healthcare leaders break down hospice reform, Medicare & quality care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Tom Koutsoumpas and Carole Fisher; 5/6/26 In Part One of Healthcare Leaders Break Down Hospice Reform, Medicare & Quality Care, Chris Comeaux sits down with nationally respected healthcare leaders Tom Koutsoumpas, Founder & CEO of NPHI and Carole Fisher, President of NPHI to explore the evolving future of hospice, palliative care, Medicare oversight, and the growing demand for quality-driven, compassionate healthcare leadership. Together, they unpack the growing challenges facing end-of-life care — from fraud and benefit manipulation to the urgent need for quality transparency and authentic patient-centered care.

Cambia Health Foundation releases comprehensive evaluation of Sojourns Scholar Leadership ProgramBusiness Wire, Portland, OR; Press Release; 4/30/26 Cambia Health Foundation today released the results of a comprehensive evaluation of its Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program, demonstrating the significant impact of a 10-year, $25 million investment in developing the next generation of palliative care leaders. The evaluation, conducted by Future Work Design, confirms that the program successfully achieved its goals of identifying, cultivating and advancing emerging leaders who are transforming care for people with serious illness, while generating insights and capturing key learnings.