LiveWell Partners acquires Assured Home Health and Hospice 
Home Health Care News; by MK Manoylov; 11/9/26 
LiveWell Partners is expanding its presence in Michigan with another acquisition of a home health and hospice provider. LiveWell announced today that it closed on its acquisition of Detroit-based Assured Home Health and Hospice, a provider of home health and hospice services throughout Southeast Michigan, Home Health Care News has exclusively learned. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

CAPC to build National Palliative Care Program Inventory 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/11/26 
A new national initiative aims to identify where palliative care services are available and where patients continue to face gaps in access. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) has launched the Palliative Care Program Inventory, a national effort to collect information about specialty palliative care programs operating in hospitals and community settings. According to CAPC, the initiative will provide a clearer picture of the nation’s palliative care infrastructure and help identify underserved communities.

OhioHealth Hospice Bereavement Team brings conversations about grief to the big screen 
OhioHealth, Athen, OH; Press release; 11/10/26
In recognition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month in November, OhioHealth is partnering with the Athena Cinema in Athens for a free film series designed to create a comfortable space for conversations about death, dying, hospice care and bereavement. For Kelsey Funk, a member of the bereavement services team with OhioHealth Hospice Athens, opening the door to those conversations is an important part of helping people navigate grief. ... The series will feature three films intended to approach grief, death and hospice care from different perspectives: Coco ...; a short documentary ...; a fictional film ... 
Editor's Note: With today's video-streaming and large screen tvs, you too can easily replicate this for your own community.

Virtual community palliative care as a population health strategy 
PALTmed | Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association; by Kurt Merkelz, MD, FAAHPM; 11/5/26 
Demand for palliative care is expected to rise as the population ages, with nearly three-quarters of palliative care professionals already reporting an increase in consult volumes since last year. Despite the increased demand, recent data from the Center to Advance Palliative Care shows access gaps remain, particularly in more rural settings. As providers adapt to meet patient needs, applying population health principles to virtual community palliative care can improve outcomes while helping patients remain safely at home or in their preferred living environment.

• Shifting the Focus from Process to Outcomes ...
• Population Health Management and Palliative Care: Powerful Synergy ...
• Incorporating Virtual Tools to Support Transitional Care Excellence ...
• Empowering Patients, Caregivers, and Providers: The Key to Improving Outcomes and Quality of Life Goals ...

How running helped one woman turn grief into purpose 
envision | Greater Fond du Lac; by Tammy Thornton; 11/5/26 
For many runners, crossing the finish line is an exhilarating personal accomplishment. For Julia Stoffel [a palliative care nurse practitioner with ThedaCare Cancer Care], it means much more. Stoffel’s path to running, paved with unimaginable tragedy, would eventually become a source of healing and purpose. ... Around that same time, Stoffel began working with her first hospice patient since returning from her leave. The man, in his 40s, had glioblastoma and often wore Boston Marathon shirts from races he had completed. [This young hospice patient encouraged her to run.]More than a decade after losing family members during an act of violence, Stoffel runs in honor of her loved ones, patients and many others whose lives have helped shape her own.

Fundraisers and giving campaigns supporting veteran care 
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; compiled by Joy Berger; 11/10/26 
Flag campaigns, festivals, and tasting events are raising funds for hospice veteran programs, music and pet therapy, and specialized services for veterans and their families:

• Fernandina Beach hosts Vets, Pets & Music Fest Nov. 8 – Amelia Island Signal
• Hospice of Michigan – Hour Detroit Magazine
• Miss Brevard, St. Francis Hospice launch flag campaign for veterans – Hometown News Brevard
• Sponsored: Hospice of Michigan Cheers for Charity event supports care for veterans – WZZM 13 

'Another whole day together': Blue Ridge Care celebrates 45 years 
The Winchester Star; by Brian Brehm; 11/8/26 
Blue Ridge Care celebrated its 45th anniversary on Friday with a special luncheon at the Millwood Station Banquet Hall near Winchester. ... "Here we are today, 45 years later, continuing and expanding on the work they started and carried to more people in more ways than ever before," Lynne Sayles, chairwoman of Blue Ridge Care's board of directors, told luncheon attendees that included several people who were with the nonprofit on or shortly after the time it accepted its first hospice patient on Valentine's Day in 1981. [Originally Blue Ridge Hospice] "So today is an opportunity for us to pause and reflect on how far we've come, and to express our deepest appreciation to many hands, hearts, and minds."

Harvard physician Lachlan Forrow honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Medical Ethics and Palliative Care 
Life Sciences Times, Boston, MA; by Life Sciences Times; 11/9/26 
Lachlan Forrow, MD, a longtime Harvard Medical School Physician and Medical Ethicist who helped shape palliative care and clinical ethics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been selected to receive the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. The award recognizes Forrow’s more than four decades of contributions to bioethics, compassionate patient care, medical education and community health leadership. ... Forrow spent much of his medical career at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), where he founded and directed the hospital’s ethics and palliative care programs.

Palliative care trigger process in the pediatric intensive care unit: A quality improvement project available to purchase
Critical Care Nurse; by Cynthia Myo, Beth Nachtsheim Bolick, Julie Reed, Kimberly A. Pyke-Grimm; 10/26
Early integration of palliative care for pediatric intensive care unit patients and their families is beneficial for establishing goals of care and complex decision-making. Trigger criteria were developed through a literature review and interprofessional work group discussions. The pediatric palliative care trigger criteria process was integrated into 3 areas of the pediatric intensive care unit workflow. Staff members identified patients meeting the trigger criteria and initiated team discussion on the appropriateness of palliative care. Conclusion: Implementation of a trigger criteria process to identify patients with high needs for palliative care was successful and effective in the pediatric intensive care unit in the setting of limited palliative care availability.

The 2026 award for the top 10 impactful papers in assisted living research 
McKnights Senior Living; by Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD; 11/8/26 
... The national Center for Excellence in Assisted Living at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (CEAL@UNC) Research Award honors innovative and rigorous research demonstrating potential to inform assisted living practice or policy. ... The recipients of the 2026 CEAL@UNC Research Award are Lacey Loomer, PhD, and Kim Dauner, PhD, for their work “A qualitative analysis of safety culture in Minnesota’s assisted living facilities.” ... The work of the 2026 CEAL@UNC Research Award recipient and finalists addresses three general topic areas: quality and care, policies and regulations, and ownership and availability. Brief summaries of the finalists grouped by topic area are presented below. ...

Thyme Care expands serious illness program, giving patients with advanced cancer a dedicated clinical home and fewer avoidable hospitalizations 
PR Newswire, Nashville, TN; Press Release; 11/5/26 
Thyme Care, the nationally recognized oncology company, today announced it is scaling its Serious Illness program to meet growing demand among patients living with serious illness, ... Thyme Care's Serious Illness program closes that gap with continuous, specialist-informed support alongside a patient's oncology care, often reaching patients who might not otherwise receive palliative care until much later in their illness. 

I hope that either all of us, or none of us, are judged by the actions of our weakest moments, but rather by the strength we show when and if we're ever given a second chance. ~Ted Lasso