Addressing workforce challenges: Hospice in the news, April 2025 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Cordt Kassner; 5/7/25 
What defines quality in end-of-life care?  How are Hospice organizations navigating workforce challenges?  And why has medical aid in dying become such a critical conversation?  These questions take center stage in this data-driven exploration of April's most impactful Hospice and Palliative Care news stories. In this episode of TCNtalks, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner discuss the top news stories from April, focusing on Hospice and Palliative Care.  They explore personal aspirations, data insights, the impact of spiritual care, emerging categories in news reporting, and key themes such as reimbursement and workforce challenges.  The conversation also touches on mission moments, regulatory changes, technology innovations, and the evolving nature of leadership in healthcare, particularly in the context of AI and human skills. ... Cordt closes the show with a Master's Class reviewing the National Hospice Locator, a valuable tool for finding high-quality Hospice Care anywhere in the country.

NPHI Honors Visionary Leaders and Organizations at 2025 Annual Summit 
National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Washington, DC; Press Release; 5/6/25 
The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) proudly recognized three outstanding leaders and organizations during its 2025 Annual Summit, honoring their profound contributions to end-of-life care. These annual awards celebrate those who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to innovation, compassion, and person-centered care in the hospice, palliative, and advanced illness care field.  

• Samira K. Beckwith, Executive Vice President of Public Policy, Chapters Health, was honored with the 2025 Lifetime in Excellence Award. 
  
  
• Dr. Bethany Snider, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Hosparus Health, received the 2025 Chirag Patel Legacy Award.
  
  
• The 2025 Healthcare in Action Innovation Award was presented to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Dr. Arif Kamal, Chief Patient Officer of the American Cancer Society, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.  
  
  

• Carole Fisher, President of NPHI, added:

  “These awards remind us what’s possible when we lead with heart, stay mission-driven, and continue to challenge the status quo in pursuit of quality care. We’re grateful for the opportunity to celebrate these trailblazers who are making a meaningful difference every day.” 

16 hospital executives’ thank-you notes to nurses 
Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Mariah Taylor and Kelly Gooch; 5/2/25
In honor of National Nurses Month in May and National Nurses Week (May 6-12), hospitals and health systems are recognizing the difference nurses make in their organizations. This year, the American Nurses Association’s theme of National Nurses Week, “The Power of Nurses,” highlights the invaluable contributions of nurses worldwide and the real-life challenges they face every day. Here are some stats to know about nurses in 2025:

1. Nurse practitioners are the fastest-growing healthcare role, and the third-fastest growing role in the U.S., at a projected growth of 46% by 2033
2. ... 65% of nurses said their top challenge is stress and burnout, 59% cited staff shortages and high patient ratios, 52% pointed to inadequate pay and benefits and 51% said feeling undervalued by management
3. ...  23rd consecutive year, nurses were recognized as the most trusted professionals in America

Becker’s collected messages of appreciation from hospital and health system leaders across the U.S. [Click khe to continue reading.]

Haven Hospice's [FL] E.T. York Hospice Care Center implements "Christmas Room"
Haven Hospice press release; by Hailey Reidy; 4/3/25
Haven Hospice's E.T. York Hospice Care Center in Gainesville has created a Christmas Room to allow their pediatric patients to celebrate with their families. The room came to be at the wish of these patients wanting to celebrate Christmas one last time which their care team and other member of Haven's team supported. The Haven Women of Philanthropy group also supported the room, covering the cost and gathering supplies.
Article posted in Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association's newsletter The Hospice Professional.

Pine Tree Hospice hosts 29th Annual Variety Show 
The Piscataquis Observer - The Voice of Rural Maine, Dover-Foxcroft, ME; by Staff; 5/5/25 
On a rainy, dreary Saturday in April, the volunteers of Pine Tree Hospice presented the group’s 29th Variety Show and created a little sunshine at the Center Theatre for the 100 attendees. The corps of volunteers ran the show from greeting attendees to taking tickets to selling tickets for the quilt raffle to running the first annual pie faffle. The Annual Variety Show, a major source of funding for the group’s volunteer-based non-medical support services, raised nearly $8,000.

Blue Ridge Hospice rebrands as Blue Ridge Care 
The Northern Virginia Daily; by rian Brehm; 5/6/25 
After more than 40 years of service, Blue Ridge Hospice is no more. Not to worry, though. The end-of-life care provider that was founded in 1981 to serve terminal patients in the Shenandoah Valley is still in business and stronger than ever, but it has become part of a new nonprofit umbrella organization called Blue Ridge Care. Jason Parsons, president and CEO of Blue Ridge Care, said the rebranding on May 1 was brought about as the organization developed its strategic plan to determine the best way to serve the growing number of residents in the Winchester area. 

Tri-Cities Chaplaincy announces $3.5 million renovation of Kennewick Hospice House 
Apple Valley News Now, Kennewick, WA; by Dan Hanson; 5/6/25
A place that has provided comfort and peace to terminally ill patients and their families for nearly three decades is getting a significant upgrade. Tri-Cities Chaplaincy has announced a $3.5 million renovation project for Hospice House in Kennewick, marking the first major renovation to the facility since it opened in 1996. The comprehensive renovation aims to modernize the region's only inpatient hospice facility while enhancing patient, family, and staff spaces. Construction is expected to last between four and six months.

To the brink and back: How near-death experiences can change how people work 
The Conversation; by Adauri.AI; 5/5/25 
What happens when someone comes close to death and then returns to everyday life, including work? For some, the experience can be transformative. ... Although near-death experiences (NDEs) have been studied since the 1970s, we know relatively little about how they affect people after the event. Research suggests people who have near-death experiences may feel increased empathy, spiritual growth, a sense of purpose and even change how they approach their jobs. Our recent study explored how near-death experiences impact people’s return to work. We interviewed 14 working adults who had a near-death experience as a result of medical crises such as a heart attack or accidents such as a car crash. What we found challenges conventional ideas about success, motivation and workplace culture.

• Doing meaningful work ...
• Rethinking motivation ...
• Relational transformations ...
• Lessons for the rest of us ...

Hospice nurses: specialized care, focused on comfort
Index Journal, Greenwood, SC; by St. Claire Donaghy; 5/7/25 
For hospice nurses Kayla Beaty and Elizabeth "Regina" Ross, their goal is to provide patients comfort rather than cures, in the face of life-limiting illness with irreversible decline. Beaty is a home care nurse. Ross is a hospice house nurse. The two are employed by Hospice and Palliative Care of the Piedmont, based in Greenwood. ... "In this line of work, you seek to provide comfort, find out a patient and families' true needs and build a rapport," Ross said. Ross' dad died when she was 12. "That's what started me wanting to be a nurse," Ross said. "My mother also took care of my grandmother in her home while I was growing up. What brought me to hospice was a sister passing, here at this Hospice House. She was only 40 years old. My mother died a year later and my oldest sister passed last month. It's not just a job to me. It's a work of heart." ... "Comfort looks different to everybody," Beaty said. "It's about quality of life. It's not all doom and gloom either. We have fun with our patients and laugh and joke. It's often little things we take for granted."
Editor's note: Reminder, National Nurses Week is May 6-12. It's crunch time. If not already, can you still reach out to your local media to feature a story about your nurses? 

‘I want to pat dogs until I die’: End-of-life planning should be more than just Living Wills 
Healthy Debate; by Kathy Kastner; 5/4/25 
France Légaré, Canada Research Chair in Shared Decision-Making and Knowledge Mobilization, wants to have stimulating conversations and be able to move around with her dog until she dies. Daneil Martin, the Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Women’s College Hospital, wants to “smell chocolate until I die.” The two doctors are among the 200+ who took the time to fill in the blank on a whiteboard, “I WANT TO__ UNTIL I DIE,” an initiative I undertook after tuning in to a hospice and palliative care medicine Twitter chat in the good old days of Twitter. As a layperson who became an entrepreneur in the health space, I was intrigued by the lament of health-care professionals on the chat: If only people talked about end-of-life wishes more, much grief could be avoided. 

States sue HHS over layoffs, restructuring: 5 updates 
Becker's Hospital Review; by Madeline Ashley and Mackenzie Bean; 5/5/25 
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the federal government May 5 aiming to block the Trump administration’s large-scale restructuring of HHS. In the lawsuit, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 19 other AGs argue the restructuring is an “unconstitutional and illegal dismantling of the department.” They contend the government has violated hundreds of laws and bypassed congressional authority by enacting the plan, which has erased decades of public health progress and left HHS unable to execute many vital functions.

California man sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in connection with $17m Medicare fraud schemes 
U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Public Affairs; Press Release; 2/6/25 
A California man was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a years-long scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $17 million through sham hospice companies and his home health care company. According to court documents, Petros Fichidzhyan, 44, of Granada Hills, schemed with others to bill Medicare for hospice services that were not medically necessary and never provided. Fichidzhyan and his co-schemers controlled hospice entities and used foreign nationals’ personal identifying information (PII) to conceal the scheme, using the PII to, among other things, open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare, and sign property leases.

The Joint Commission cuts 55 administrative employees 
Modern Healthcare; by Hayley Desilva; 5/6/25
The Joint Commission said Tuesday it laid off 55 administrative employees last week as the organization navigates structural changes to improve its operational efficiency. All affected employees worked at the organization’s central office in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. The Joint Commission declined to say whether those employees could apply for other roles or if additional cuts are planned. ... The organization also declined to comment on the status of any funding from the federal government. In its most recent federal tax filing, for 2023, it reported more than $207 million in total revenue, a $1.4 million decrease from 2022.

OHSU, Legacy walk away from merger 
Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 5/5/25 
Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health, both based in Portland, said May 5 that they mutually agreed to terminate their planned merger. ... Neither system provided additional details on the reasoning behind their decision. The combined system under OHSU Health would have covered 12 hospitals and more than 32,000 employees, and been one of Oregon’s largest service providers to Medicaid members. As part of the merger, OHSU had said it would invest about $1 billion over a decade to support primary care and community-based services that would be part of the combined system. 
Editor's note: OHSU provides palliative care and Legacy Health provides palliative and hospice care.

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. ~ William Shakespeare

Celebrating National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2025