Literature Review

Mercy House of the Southern Tier breaks grounds for $2 million expansion to enhance end of life care WNBF News Radio; by Traci Taylor; 10/1/24Mercy House of the Southern Tier recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its highly-anticipated $2 million expansion project, marking a significant milestone in its mission to provide compassionate care for terminally ill patients and their families during life's most challenging moments. ... Linda Cerra, the Executive Director of Mercy House of the Southern Tier, expressed gratitude towards their hospice partner, Guthrie Hospice of Vestal, along with the Guthrie and UHS Palliative Care teams, Broome Oncology, BGH PCU, and Endwell Family Physicians. Their unwavering support ensures that residents receive the utmost compassionate end-of-life care, embodying the core values of Mercy House.

Teleios Collaborative Network develops Quintuple Aim Strategy to enhance hospice care Business Insider / Markets Insider, Flat Rock, NC; Press Release; 9/27/24 Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN) has officially announced the launch of its Quintuple Aim Strategy, aimed at setting a new standard for excellence in hospice and serious illness care. This initiative addresses the pressing need for improved quality of life for patients nearing the end of life, as many hospices face challenges in providing comprehensive care. ... The Quintuple Aim Strategy emphasizes five key goals: improving patient experience, enhancing population health, reducing costs, promoting provider well-being, and advancing health equity. This holistic approach enables member organizations to focus on their core mission of delivering high-quality, compassionate care. One of the key components of TCN’s model is the provision of comprehensive back-office support services. By offering shared resources in areas such as credentialing, billing, marketing, and finance, TCN allows its members to minimize administrative burdens and prioritize patient care. In just seven years, TCN has grown to include 15 member organizations across 10 states, and it has been recognized as one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work for four consecutive years, underscoring its commitment to fostering a supportive and effective work environment. ...

3HC appoints new President and CEO Goldsboro Daily News, Goldsboro, NC; by Andrew Stevens; 9/24/24 3HC Home Health and Hospice Care Inc., a leading North Carolina provider of home health and hospice announced today that a new President and CEO has been appointed by their Board of Directors. The Board Chair, Shirley Harkey, DHA, RN, FACHE, sent notice to 3HC’s Executive Team on Sept. 16, announcing the appointment of Jennifer J. Whitley, MSN, RN, FNP-C as President and Chief Executive Officer effective Sept., 17. “Mrs. Whitley has successfully served in many roles at 3HC since 1995, from Home Health Nurse to Interim CEO,” said Shirley Harkey, 3HC Board Chair. “With 10 years of experience as Assistant Vice President of Clinical Services and 9 years as Chief Clinical Officer, she stepped into the Interim CEO role in April 2024 and served this organization well during that time. Over the years, Mrs. Whitely has led the organization through many challenges and opportunities to improve clinical care, documentation, and operational efficiencies. ..."

Fairhope Hospice and Palliative Care announces Grand Opening of Advanced Illness Management (AIM) Clinic Fairhope Hospice & Palliative Care; by Julie Theado; 9/24/24Fairhope Hospice & Palliative Care celebrated the grand opening of their Advanced Illness Management (AIM) Clinic through a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 23, hosted by the Lancaster-Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce alongside community leaders. The AIM clinic ... is designed to meet the growing needs of the community by providing a convenient setting where patients can receive care from nurse practitioners for routine visits and urgent, non-emergency care. Physician support will also be available to help patients better manage symptoms and stress associated with their conditions, ultimately aiming to reduce frequent hospitalizations. ... Kristin Glasure, President and CEO of Fairhope Hospice and Palliative Care, shared her thoughts on this expansion: “... By offering more specialized services in a dedicated setting, we’re ensuring that patients with advanced illnesses receive the best possible care while staying close to home."

Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice by Compassus to provide care in Greater Lima Area HometownStations.com - ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, Lima, OH; by Mercy Health - St. Rita's; 9/23/24 The Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice programs serving the greater Lima, Ohio, area, announced a new name today: Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice by Compassus. The name change reflects a joint venture partnership between Bon Secours Mercy Health, the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the U.S., and Compassus, a leading national provider of integrated home-based health care services, finalized earlier this year. Locations in Lima formerly managed by Mercy Health will be rebranded under the joint venture and managed by Compassus.

Lake Erie views from every room mark plans for new Hospice of the Western Reserve building Ideastream Public Media; by Stephen Langel; 9/18/24The Hospice of the Western Reserve broke ground Wednesday on a new 32-bed facility in Cleveland's North Collinwood neighborhood.The new, $25 million building will replace a 30-year-old facility located adjacent to it on East 185th Street and will have a different look and feel than the old site, said Laura Rayburn, president of the Hospice of the Western Reserve Foundation."It doesn't smell like a hospital, look like a hospital or sound like a hospital," Rayburn said. ... The new facility will provide patients and family members with suites that ensure quiet settings and privacy, she said. Each suite will also face Lake Erie with patio access for residents. "We have this beautiful asset of the lake, and we know the importance of water and how it can relieve stress, how it can reduce anxiety," Rayburn said. The facility also keeps medical equipment hidden from view to reduce stress and anxiety while providing the acute care patients need, she said. This can include having the ports for equipment to help with breathing located behind a picture above a bed's headboard, so it's out of sight when not needed, Rayburn said. The old facility, for which there are no current reuse plans, is being replaced due to rising maintenance and repair costs.

The Journey Home receives inaugural $20K grant from BCF Bartlesville, OK Local News; by Nathan Thompson; 9/17/24 The Journey Home, a nonprofit and free hospice facility, has received the Tell Your Story Grant of $20,000 from the Bartlesville Community Foundation. The award was announced Tuesday during the BCF's inaugural "Celebrate Together" luncheon at the Bartlesville Community Center. The competitive grant is structured to provide $10,000 of endowment support, $5,000 in operational funding and $5,000 worth of video and social media production. The Journey Home opened its doors in January 2014 as a specialized end-of-life care facility — only the second one of its kind in Oklahoma. It is a six-bedroom home staffed with professional caregivers and trained volunteers who provide continuous personal care for terminally-ill guests.

Mary Lanning hospice agency changes ownership Hastings Tribune, Hastings, NE; by John Huthmacher; 9/11/24 Sanford Health-Good Samaritan Society assumed control of its first hospice agency in Nebraska Sept. 5 after purchasing the agency from Mary Lanning Healthcare. Carrie Edwards, administrator of home- and community-based services, said all 12 of the hospice staff previously employed by the former MLH agency have been retained, including herself, three full-time nurses, two full-time aides, a full-time social worker, full-time business office coordinator, and four part-time or occasional employees. 

Agnesian HealthCare Foundation 2024 Charity Open has successful year envision - Greater Fond du Lac, WI; by Agnesian HealthCare Foundation; 9/11/24 The Agnesian HealthCare Foundation recently hosted its 36th annual Charity Open, presented by the Michels Corporation, celebrating another successful year supporting local hospice and cancer patient care. Since 1989, the Charity Open has raised more than $7.6 million. Thanks to the generosity of those attending and sponsoring the event, the Agnesian HealthCare Foundation raised approximately $455,000. Proceeds from this year’s event are supporting SSM Health at Home Hospice and SSM Health Cancer Care services within the greater Fond du Lac area – helping ensure that all patients have access to these vital services regardless of their ability to pay. “Our hospice team supports our patient’s last days by offering comfort and dignity,” according to Kim Laws, Agnesian HealthCare Foundation director of development and interim leader. “Our goal is to provide this service regardless of the family’s ability to pay." 

Leading the Way: Gilchrist and Franklin Hospice forces in landmark integration Franklin Hospice, Chambersburg, PA; by Karen M. Giffin; 9/9/24 Franklin Hospice and Gilchrist ... have announced an affiliation agreement. This partnership will unite two of Maryland’s oldest and most experienced nonprofit organizations, together with nearly 70 years of service to their communities. As the healthcare landscape continues to transform nationwide, this type of affiliation of two synergistic nonprofit organizations with similar missions, visions, and values will position both organizations for continued growth, innovation and financial strength. ... This strategic affiliation will strengthen their ability to offer compassionate care to more patients and families throughout Central and Southern Maryland, as well as Washington and Frederick Counties and South-Central Pennsylvania. Both organizations will retain their name and branding while offering a unified approach to care. 

National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation Fierce Pharma - Special Report: The Fierce 50 of 2024 - Innovation Honorees; by Fraiser Kansteiner; distributed 9/10/24 With an aging population and shifting healthcare environment, providing proper, personalized care for the U.S.’ most vulnerable patients can be a challenge.That’s why Tom Koutsoumpas, one of the masterminds behind the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), has been working to continually improve hospice and palliative care across the nation for decades. ... The goal, he explained in an interview with Fierce, was to "become the national voice for the future of hospice, palliative care, and advanced illness care." Through its efforts, NPHI seeks to work in tandem with its network of nonprofit community programs to help them innovate, thrive into the future and continue to evolve in the ever-changing U.S. healthcare system, Koutsoumpas said. While local hospice and palliative care groups exist to tackle many of these same goals, “programs in the community have no scale,” Koutsoumpas explained. “They have no opportunity to work from scale to address cost issues, rising costs, changes that occur.” In turn, NPHI was founded to help bring those programs together while allowing them to retain their identities as discrete, local providers. Editor's note: NPHI is a sponsor for our newsletter. 

2024 NHPCO Facts and Figures Report now available National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/10/242022 Data Show First Increase in Hospice Utilization Rates Since COVID The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) published the 2024 edition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Facts and Figures, an annual report on key data points related to the delivery of hospice care, including information on patient characteristics, location and level of care, Medicare hospice spending, and hospice providers. Facts and Figures – the leading resource for hospice providers and others interested in understanding the work of the community – has been published annually for over two decades by NHPCO. ... The findings in this report reflect patients who received care in Calendar Year (CY) 2022, or Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, provided by hospices certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and reimbursed under the Medicare Hospice Benefit. This year COVID-19 continued to impact patient care as COVID-19 waivers were still in place through May 2023. These waivers included increased telehealth services. With 49.1% of all Medicare decedents in 2022 choosing hospice care, utilization of hospice increased in 2022 for the first time since 2019. The increase hints at a normalization of the utilization rates back to pre-COVID data. Hospice utilization rates increased across all race and ethnicity groups, with the largest increase among Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries seeing. The total number of beneficiaries enrolled in hospice care in 2022 was 1.72 million. Due to the unique impact of COVID-19 on 2020 data, those data are not included in many of the charts this year.

Hospice of the Foothills announces umbrella name, Foothills Compassionate Care YubaNet.com; by Hospice of the Foothills; 9/10/24 As we celebrate 45 years as this community’s only nonprofit hospice, Hospice of the Foothills is excited to announce that we are formalizing our structure a bit to fit all of our programs under one all-encompassing organizational name. Going forward, Hospice of the Foothills, Sierra Community Palliative Care, Foothills Gift & Thrift Stores, and our Bereavement Programs will operate under the unified umbrella of Foothills Compassionate Care. Each program/service will maintain its name and identity but will be united under one umbrella.  We feel his strategic alignment will highlight all that we do more clearly and reinforce our commitment to providing compassionate, community-centered care without changing the ownership, staff, or core mission that our community has trusted for years. ... This is not about changing what works; it’s about creating a formal structure that reflects the comprehensive care we’ve always provided.