Literature Review

Hospice patient enjoys fishing adventureHickory Daily Record; 12/30/23Carolina Caring’s compassionate hospice and palliative care empowers patients to make the most of each day as they navigate serious illness. One patient, Barbara, has been under hospice care with Carolina Caring and has shared ... with her nurse, Kelly Avery, and social worker, Megan Elmore ... that her  fondest memories were of fishing with her family on Lake Hickory. After being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic heart failure, Barbara’s symptoms were getting increasingly harder to manage. She went from fishing once a week to once a month, to not having fished in over two years. ... Thanks to multiple visits a week from her Carolina Caring care team, Barbara was able to build the confidence to once again cast her line and enjoy the great outdoors. ... Kelly and Megan coordinated with the Carolina Caring Volunteer and Foundation Departments to secure fishing licenses and gather together a spread of Barbara’s favorite foods at Dallas Park & Recreation ponds. For just the second time in the past year, Barbara left the house.

Stepping forward to enhance end-of-life careLaker Lutz News, by Mary Rathman; 1/2/23Gulfside Hospice, a leading provider of compassionate health care services, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its newest venture — a state-of-the-art Gulfside Hospice Care Center — on Dec. 8, on the future grounds of the center.

Palliative care pioneer named chief medical officer of The Elizabeth HospiceSan Diego Union-TribuneDecember 24, 2023Escondido, CA—Charles von Gunten, M.D., F.A.A.H.P.M. is the new chief medical officer for The Elizabeth Hospice and will oversee all medical aspects of the organization’s hospice and palliative care and services. ... Von Gunten is a pioneer in palliative medicine. He was the founding chairman of the test committee for Hospice & Palliative Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine on behalf of nine American Board of Medical Specialties member boards. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2011.

Hospice tech helps Scottsdale patientScottsdale (AZ) Progress, By Lin Sue Flood, 12/22/23ALS has changed John Rosso’s life, but not in the way one might imagine. The cheery-natured Scottsdale resident doesn’t focus on what he can no longer do. Instead, the 73-year-old channels his energy into pushing boundaries and overcoming challenges posed by the neurodegenerative disease. ... Hospice of the Valley’s unique Pulmonary Resource Program supports patients with neuromuscular diseases, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, COPD and other conditions that affect breathing.[Editor’s Note: The author is Director of Community Engagement for Hospice of the Valley, Phoenix, AZ.]

NAHC and NHPCO Announce Transition Board of DirectorsNews ReleaseDecember 21, 2023Alexandria, VA, and Washington, DC—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization jointly announced today that they have developed a proposed slate of Transition Board of Directors and officers for 2024. The Transition Board will oversee the transition to a new, consolidated organization pursuant to its ratification by both associations’ Boards of Directors in an agreement to combine which is contemplated in early 2024. ... The proposed Transition Board was selected collaboratively by the boards of NAHC and NHPCO and represents the full breadth of the patient-centered healthcare sector providing care in homes and communities nationwide, with wide-ranging expertise, demographic and geographic diversity, varied organizational tax statuses, and other criteria. The Transition Board includes equal representation from NAHC and NHPCO ... The proposed Transition Board is as follows:

Jefferson, Lehigh Valley Health to merge in 2024Modern HealthcareDecember 19, 2023Jefferson and Lehigh Valley Health Network plan to merge next year, creating a system of 30 hospitals and more than 700 care sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The two health systems said Tuesday they have signed a non-binding letter of intent to merge and plan to sign a definitive agreement and close the transaction sometime in 2024, pending regulatory approval. 

Hudson Valley Hospice Opens its First ResidenceHudson Valley Press (Newburgh, NY)December 19, 2023Poughkeepsie, NY—Michael Kaminski, President and CEO of Hudson Valley Hospice, announced that the Hudson Valley Hospice House is now open to patients. ... Suites can also be converted for pediatric patient care to meet the extraordinary needs of our youngest patients and their loved ones.

Maryland hospice organization helps parents navigate holidays with terminally ill childrenWTOP-FM (Washington, DC)December 18, 2023When a family has a child dealing with a terminal illness during the holidays, they also live with the harsh reality that their child may not be around for the next year’s festivities. Brian Berger, vice president of care continuum for Hospice of the Chesapeake in Maryland, said parents ask themselves questions like “What can I do with the time and space that I currently have?” and “What experiences can I have with my child?” 

Kaiser Permanente lays off 115 IT employeesModern HealthcareDecember 12, 2023Kaiser Permanente has joined a growing list of health systems cutting back their IT teams. The Oakland, California-based health system confirmed it eliminated 115 workers from IT positions last month. Kaiser declined to specify how many IT employees were retained or provide detail about the roles and locations affected. Overall, Kaiser has about 220,000 employees. 

Children in hospice care gifted Christmas presents in Virginia BeachWVEC-TV (Norfolk, VA)December 10, 2023Virginia Beach, VA—It’s the season of giving and Edmarc and Dominion Energy are teaming up to give back to families who need it most. Sunday morning, Santa Claus and a team of helpers from Dominion Energy and Edmarc delivered Christmas gifts to families with children facing life-threatening, terminal illnesses. Edmarc, a nonprofit that helps children in hospice care, organized the effort. The organization’s assistant director, Dorothy Jenson, said it’s about taking the stress off families who need a reason to smile. “The holidays are especially hard for some families... This puts everybody into the spirit,” she said. “We treat the whole family, not just the child who’s sick.” She said her team wanted to lift spirits and make sure families with sick children can make the most of the holidays.

Hospice of South Texas guided Woodsboro woman through transition to afterlifeVictoria (TX) AdvocateDecember 9, 2023Woodsboro, TX—Rebecca Roitsch had suffered an accidental overdose on morphine after undergoing surgery to remove both of her breasts. Roitsch was battling an aggressive Stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her bones and other organs, riddling her body with more than 30 metastases. ... She became a patient of the Hospice of South Texas in Victoria where health care providers aimed to ease her pain and heal her spirit as the inevitable approached. ... When Roitsch was first admitted into the Hospice of South Texas in April, she feared the worst. She worried the hospice would be a sterile place without life or love, where she would languish in a cold, unfamilar clinical setting. Quickly, she realized she had been wrong. ... “These people here came into (my hospice) room, and it was like lightning filled the room. I’m not kidding. They were real. They were just fabulous. They listened. They didn’t push you. If you couldn’t eat, then you couldn’t eat. They were just wonderful, and I started realizing that this was not what I had in mind at all.”