Literature Review

4th Annual Walk for Hospice raises over $75,000 for the Aroostook House of Comfort The County, Caribou, ME; 9/25/26The Aroostook Hospice Foundation held its 4th Annual Walk for Hospice on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Caribou High School Track & Trails, bringing together over 442 participants and 31 teams and raising more than $75,000 in support of the Aroostook House of Comfort. The annual walk brings the community together to raise funds and awareness while remembering and celebrating the lives of those touched by hospice care. This year marked the largest Walk for Hospice to date. 

ACG Hospice opens new Sylacauga location SylacaugaNews.com, Sylacauga, AL; by Sylacauga News Digital Team; 9/23/26 “We are here for a reason” was the message from ACG Hospice Vice President of Operations Michelle Harden as she introduced local, regional, and national company representatives during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sylacauga for the organization’s newest location in the Victorian Village. “Our hospice is a ministry,” Harden explained. “Our team is dedicated to becoming a true part of the community of Sylacauga.

ClearPath Healthcare meets in-home primary need in Central Oregon Redmond Spokesman; by Emily Rogers; 9/22/26 ClearPath Healthcare, a hospice leader in Central Oregon for more than 40 years, launched its in-home primary in May and demand has been through the roof due to the overwhelming amount of home-bound seniors in Deschutes County. ... ClearPath Healthcare, which changed its name from Hospice of Redmond in December 2025, offers in-home primary care ... The nonprofit also provides hospice and transitional care across Central Oregon, ...

Moratorium morphs hospice affiliation landscape Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/22/26 A national temporary ban on new Medicare enrollment could have long-term impacts on hospice affiliations among nonprofit providers. Fraudsters have bilked billions of Medicare dollars posing as new legitimate providers. The program integrity issues moved the moratoria forward and caused a trickle effect on mergers, acquisitions, affiliations and organic growth in the hospice space. This is according to Mark Kulik, senior managing director at merger and acquisition advisory firm The Braff Group. The moratoria could result in an uptick of nonprofit affiliations, particularly in states with certificate of need (CON) policies, Kulik indicated.

Labor Day auction raises more than $1 million Hospice & Community Care, Lancaster, PA; online letter to their sponsors, volunteers, and community; retrieved from the internet 9/22/26 Thanks to your incredible generosity, we are proud to share that more than $1 million was raised to support hospice and palliative care, bereavement services, and grief support programs for the thousands of patients and families served by Hospice & Community Care each year. This remarkable achievement reflects the compassion and commitment of our community. Because of you, we can continue our mission of helping patients and families live better with serious illness through end of life. From all of us at Hospice & Community Care, thank you for making a difference.

Understanding low hospice utilization among ESRD patients0Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/21/260Hospice care is underutilized among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, often due to systemic factors. More than 831,000 Americans are living with kidney failure, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 2023 alone, new cases totaled 131,564. Yet, end-stage renal disease patients in 2024 represented 1.3% of Medicare decedents who elected the Medicare Hospice Benefit, the National Alliance for Care at Home reported. This was 24,336 patients.0Concerns over access to dialysis is a major contributor to the low utilization, according to Compassus Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Merkelz.03330The prospect of giving up dialysis deters many ESRD patients from entering hospice. Those that do may come to hospice very late because once they stop dialysis the patient will have approximately one week to live, Merkelz said.

The critical competencies hospice leaders must build for value-based care cuccess | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Jessica Hubbs; 9/16/26 Value-based care isn’t just changing how hospice gets paid—it’s redefining what hospice leaders must be capable of delivering. In Part One of The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jessica Hubbs, Chief Clinical Officer at Advanced Care Innovations, to explore the accelerating shift from fee-for-service healthcare toward models built around outcomes, total cost of care, and coordinated care delivery.  Dr. Hubbs explains why emerging models such as LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design) matter to hospice and palliative care leaders—and why the movement upstream into serious illness and home-based care could represent both a competitive headwind and an extraordinary opportunity.

Over 150 advocates convene on Capitol Hill to champion care at home National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/16/26 This week, more than 150 care at home advocates from across the country met with 285 congressional offices to discuss key legislative and regulatory priorities for expanding and protecting access to care at home. The meetings were part of the 2026 National Alliance for Care at Home Advocacy Week, an important opportunity to unite the entire care at home continuum under one voice.  

Gentiva Hospice opens new Peoria location to expand end-of-life care Nexstar local, Peoria, IL; by Kennedy Caldwell; 9/16/26 Gentiva Hospice is opening a new Peoria location as the healthcare provider looks to expand access to hospice and end-of-life care across Central Illinois. The new office, located at 3930 W. War Memorial drive, held an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, the location will serve patients and families within an approximately 50-mile radius including Peoria, Knox, Fulton, Woodford, Tazewell, Marshall and Stark counties.

Hospice, cancer services gain $730K from Agnesian Charity Open FDL Reporter, Fond du Lac, WI; by Nida Tazeen; 9/16/26 The Agnesian HealthCare Foundation raised about $730,000 during its 38th annual Charity Open, exceeding the previous event's total by more than $200,000 and bringing the fundraiser's cumulative impact to more than $9.4 million since 1989. The event, presented by C.D. Smith Construction, Inc. and Michels Corporation, supports hospice and cancer care services in the Fond du Lac area, according to a community announcement. Funds raised this year will benefit SSM Health Hospice Home of Hope and SSM Health Cancer Care programs, helping provide care to patients regardless of their ability to pay, according to the announcement.

Hospice families and Mercy patients navigate overlapping Allina strikes as health system reports 37 doctors crossed picket linesMedical Daily, Minneapolis, MN; by Elena Vega; 9/16/26Allina Health says only about half of the nearly 150 physicians represented by Doctors Council SEIU walked off the job when a four-day strike began Monday, Sept. 14, at Mercy Hospital's Coon Rapids campus and Unity campus in Fridley. Allina spokesperson Blois Olson told the Minnesota Reformer that 37 union doctors crossed the picket line and 40 were not scheduled to work this week. ... As of Wednesday, Sept. 16, MedicalDaily had not found a newer official count or a public response from the union. The physician strike is running alongside a separate seven-day walkout by roughly 60 Allina hospice nurses that began Friday, Sept. 11, and is scheduled to run through Thursday, Sept. 17.

The critical competencies hospice leaders must build for value-based care cuccess | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Jessica Hubbs; 9/16/26 Value-based care isn’t just changing how hospice gets paid—it’s redefining what hospice leaders must be capable of delivering. In Part One of The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jessica Hubbs, Chief Clinical Officer at Advanced Care Innovations, to explore the accelerating shift from fee-for-service healthcare toward models built around outcomes, total cost of care, and coordinated care delivery.  Dr. Hubbs explains why emerging models such as LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design) matter to hospice and palliative care leaders—and why the movement upstream into serious illness and home-based care could represent both a competitive headwind and an extraordinary opportunity.

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.