Literature Review

Modern Healthcare announces rankings, “Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2026” Source, Modern Healthcare, compiled by Hospice and Palliative Care Today; list by Modern Healthcare with additional information compiled by Joy Berger; 9/21/26 In early June we posted Modern Healthcare’s May announcement of its alphabetical list of “Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2026” honorees. Modern Healthcare revealed the rankings on 9/16/26 at its awards gala in Houston. The ranked-list article is behind a paywall, but each honoree has an individual page that is freely accessible, so every hospice and palliative care organization below links directly to its own ranking. Modern Healthcare scores two separate lists of 75 organizations each — Provider/Insurer and Supplier — so a rank reflects placement within that category, not across all honorees. If we have inadvertently omitted an organization, please email jberger@hospicepalliativecaretoday.com.

Medicare moments: The scarcity of Medicare caregiver benefits Allied News; by Joel Mekler; 9/14/26 ... AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving released the 2025 Caregiving in the U.S. report, their newest update since 2020. This comprehensive document offers an in-depth look at the evolving landscape of family caregiving for adults, highlighting key trends, challenges, and potential reforms. A key discovery is the swift growth in family caregiving. Almost 25% of adults — 63 million Americans — spent the last year caring for an adult (59 million) or a child (4 million) with complex medical needs or disabilities, marking a 45% increase since 2015. This trend underscores the essential role of family caregivers and exposes systemic shortcomings that place significant burdens on them, highlighting the pressing need for reforms.

Former VA nurse charged with intentionally abusing hospice patient News 8 Now, La Crosse/Toma, WI; by Sam Shilts; 9/10/26 A former registered nurse at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center faces a felony charge after prosecutors say she intentionally removed oxygen from a dying hospice patient, causing him great bodily harm. Beth Marie Holtz, 53, of New Berlin, was charged Wednesday in Monroe County court with intentionally abusing a patient causing great bodily harm. An arrest warrant was issued the same day. According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred Aug. 17, 2025, involving a 75-year-old patient who had been admitted to hospice with pulmonary fibrosis and had a medical order for continuous oxygen supply.

LifeCare Home Health & Hospice Family launches new website to make finding home-based care easier The Best Times, Irving, TX; by LifeCare Home Health Family; 9/14/26 LifeCare Home Health & Hospice Family has launched a new corporate website designed to make it easier for patients, families, referral partners and healthcare professionals to understand LifeCare's growing family of companies and connect with home health, hospice and in-home care services in their communities. Introduced earlier this year, the new website at lchhfamily.com serves as a centralized digital resource for LifeCare's network of locally operated healthcare organizations.

Retired educator gives back to grieving children at Camp Braveheart WJAR-10, NBC, Cranston, RI; by Patrice Wood; 9/9/26 Young hearts come together at Camp Braveheart in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. And the first person to greet them when they get off the bus is Harry Potter. Potter is a retired Rhode Island school educator with a famous name and a heart of gold. They come Camp Braveheart to begin to heal after the death of a loved one. Braveheart is now in its 20th year and much of that time, Potter has been a trusted counselor. "The little kids think I'm magical. You see them running around the camp saying, 'Harry Potter, Harry Potter,'" Potter said. That connection eventually opens the door for a more serious conversation.

Hospice Alliance marks 45 years of care Sept. 25 Racine County Eye, Pleasant Prairie, WI; 9/14/26 Hospice Alliance is celebrating 45 years of serving families in southeastern Wisconsin, marking an anniversary that dates to Sept. 25, 1981, when community members founded the organization to expand access to end-of-life care and family support. ... The organization’s services include care provided in private homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as at its Hospice Alliance Hospice House in Pleasant Prairie, according to the announcement. The nonprofit said it remains guided by a mission of “Adding Life to Days” and provides care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

Aviva Senior Living partners with Empath Tidewell Hospice to support Tikvah, Sarasota’s first Jewish hospice program NEWSnet, Sarasota, FL; by EIN Presswire; 9/15/26 Aviva Senior Living is proud to partner with Empath Tidewell Hospice, Sarasota’s leading provider of end-of-life care, to launch a new Jewish hospice program called Tikvah. Led by Sepi Ackerman, Director of Jewish Community Development at Tidewell Hospice, Tikvah is the first program of its kind in Sarasota. It offers specialized services to honor the wishes of Jewish patients and help keep them comfortable during their final days. ... The program provides many services, such as service boxes that bring religious traditions like Shabbat to a patient’s bedside, on-call clergy through a coalition of local rabbis, Jewish vigils, Jewish music, and more. Patients and families can join Tikvah for free as part of their existing Tidewell care.

U.S. hospices with a 5-star CMS family caregiver survey ratingHospice & Palliative Care Today; 9/6/26... This list was compiled directly from CMS's official downloadable dataset — "Hospice care – Provider CAHPS Hospice Survey Data" (August 2026 release) — available on the CMS Provider Data Catalog,. Every hospice below has a "SUMMARY_STAR_RATING" (Family Caregiver Survey Rating) of 5 out of 5 in that file. You can look up any individual hospice, or search by ZIP code, on Care Compare.

Memory Care: Hospice of the Valley awarded grant to support first-of-its-kind in-home dementia program Lovin' Life, Tuscon, AZ; 9/6/26 Hospice of the Valley has been awarded a $100,000 Mercy C.A.R.E.S. Community Reinvestment Grant to support its Supportive Care for Dementia Program across Maricopa, Pinal and Pima Counties. This unique service is the only in-home program in Arizona delivering clinical and emotional care to support families caring for a loved one with any stage of dementia. Specific features of the program include in-home guidance and custom care plans from an experienced dementia team; free family caregiver education and support; low-cost in-home respite care through the RISE student engagement partnership; and 24-hour access to clinical advice and care coordination.

Celebrating Connie Fox: 96 years young and 25 years of giving backHERLIFE Magazine; by HERLIFE Magazine; 9/1/26This year, we proudly celebrate Connie Fox, our oldest active volunteer, as she turns 96 years young. Connie began volunteering with Hospice of San Joaquin in 2001, after our hospice cared for her husband. ... When asked why she continues to volunteer, Connie’s answer is simple. “The satisfaction. I’ve loved every minute of it. ... We are family. I love Hospice of San Joaquin.” The feeling is mutual. ... At 96, Connie continues to embrace life with enthusiasm. ... She firmly believes that staying involved and positive is the key to a fulfilling life.

When end-of-life becomes the beginning of new life: Application of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines on Adult End-of-Life Care in the ICU to the setting of donation after circulatory deathCritical Care Explorations; by Ian M. Oppenheim, Rita N. Bakhru, Carolina B. Maciel, Katharina M. Busl, on behalf of the Donor Care Unit Network for Optimizing Recovery (DONOR) Group; 8/26The recently published Society of Critical Care Medicine Guidelines on Adult End-of-Life Care in the ICU provide a detailed and well-thought-out approach to a vital component of critical care, although they explicitly refrain from discussing how they may apply to organ donation. As representatives of the Donor Care Unit Network for Optimizing Recovery (DONOR), a group of intensivists experienced in managing donation after circulatory death (DCD), we wish to endorse equal delivery of high-quality end-of-life (EOL) care for organ donors. Although some logistical differences must be addressed, the EOL recommendations outlined in the Guidelines are still applicable to patients being evaluated for or undergoing DCD. Recent accounts of unacceptable patient care in the setting of DCD highlight a critical threat to patient welfare and public trust. Our mandate is clear: implement and audit protocols that guarantee dignity and symptom control while demonstrating that DCD remains wholly consistent with a compassionate, honorable, and fulfilling EOL.

Navigating generational shifts: strategies for sustaining organizational knowledge and future-proofing the workforce Recruit-Talent.com; 9/9/26 The modern workplace is in the midst of an unprecedented demographic transformation, driven by the mass retirement of Baby Boomers and the increasing entry of Generation Z. This confluence of generational shifts presents both significant challenges and unique opportunities for organizations globally. ...

End-of-life care behind bars: regular reviews of articles and reports on key issues in prison hospice and palliative care.End-of-Life Care Behind Bars - A Periodic Literature Search; September 2026 issue Highlights: Prison palliative care and compassionate release should be treated as interconnected rather than competing mechanisms; the constitutional crisis of end-of-life care for incarcerated individuals; prison officers matter in end-of-life care; community hospice engagement in end-of-life care in prisons; person-first language in correctional healthcare – two perspectives; critical reappraisal of policy and practice in correctional healthcare; conducting ethical health research in prisons