Sunset Hospice Cottage sets fundraising record for endowment 
The Worthington Daily Globe, Worthington, MN; 4/14/26 
From tie-dyed hair bands to hippie wigs, form-fitting attire to round-rimmed shades, attendees at the 24th annual Sunset Hospice Cottage Banquet went all out with the 1970s-themed "Peace, Love and Compassion" fundraising event Saturday evening at the Worthington Event Center. ... When it was over, this year's banquet raised a record-setting amount for the cottage's endowment. On Monday afternoon, Murphy said they were still adding up the numbers. Murphy said the more than 500 people in attendance were bonded during what was both a joyous and emotional evening. ... "It didn't matter about religion and politics and ages and status. Nothing mattered but being there for Sunset Hospice Cottage. I wish the world would find that peace." 

Avow expands hospice services into Glades, Hendry and Lee counties
Lake Okeechobee News, Naples, FL; 4/13/26
On Monday, April 13 , Avow, a leading nonprofit health care provider based in Southwest Florida, announced its expansion into Glades, Hendry and Lee counties. This expansion extends Avow’s high-quality hospice and comprehensive bereavement support, increasing access and impact for families across the region. ... Over the past year, Avow has expanded its reach and deepened its impact, caring for more than 2,900 hospice patients annually and providing more than 4,000 palliative care visits through its Naples clinic and satellite locations. 

Accreditation: moving forward during the moratorium 
HME News - Business News for Home Medical Equipment Providers; by Sandra Canally; 4/13/26 
... Hospice contracts: Hospice providers are required to contract only with accredited DMEPOS suppliers to equip terminally ill patients whether at the hospice facility, in a nursing home or at home. The supply opportunities closely mirror those in skilled nursing, with enteral nutrition, mobility aids and respiratory equipment all in demand. Hospice covers 100% of DME costs related to the terminal illness. [For DME companies:] Invoice the hospice organization directly, and they pay you. Medicare stays out of the transaction entirely.

Tuesday Health expands national footprint with Humana partnership to advance value-based palliative care 
PR Newswire, Houston, TX; by Tuesday Health; 4/14/26
Tuesday Health today announced a new partnership with Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) to expand access to value-based palliative care for Texans living with serious illness, marking another step in the company's growing national footprint. Launching June 1, the program will support eligible Humana members and their caregivers ... Through the partnership, eligible Humana members will gain access to Tuesday Health's interdisciplinary care teams, including nurses, social workers, nurse practitioners and physicians.

The power of showing up: how families can support loved ones who are aging or ill 
Good Men Project; by Harvey Max Chochinov; 4/14/26 
For many families, visiting a loved one who is aging or seriously ill can feel surprisingly hard. ... What if the problem is not that families have too little to offer, but that we misunderstand what truly helps? ... By emphasizing presence over fixing, dignity over distraction, and meaning over outcomes, it helps families:

• Recognize the profound impact of continued presence.
• Reduce their own suffering by reconnecting with their role as comforters and companions.
• Support their own emotional health by easing feelings of helplessness.
• Improve outcomes for loved ones through advocacy and connection.
• Strengthen the overall healthcare system by providing care that cannot be replaced.

Music in the last hours: finding humanity in the ICU
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, from Piura, Peru; Carlos F. Ugas-Charcape, MD, PhD and Cristopher A. Tarazona Chapilliquen; 3/27/26
Objective: To describe the use of personalized music as a comfort measure during the final hours of life in the ICU and reflect on its impact on the patient, family, and care environment. ...
Conclusions: Personalized music represents a simple, patient-centered adjunct that may enhance comfort and dignity in the final hours of life.
Editor's Note: For more detailed research, case studies and therapeutic guidance for using music in the "last hours" with hospice and palliative patients and families, I invite you to explore "The Final Cadence," a chapter in my book Music of the Soul - Composing Life Out of Life. 

Owner opened restaurant on day off to fulfill dying man's last wish to feed hospice nurses who cared for him 
People; by Erin Clack; 4/11/26 
"To me, it means the world to see that kindness, that greatness spread," the dying man's brother said of the restaurant owner.  Tommy Milani didn't hesitate to step up and help when he received a request from a grieving family. Before his death, Frank Ozimek — who spent six weeks at Niagara Hospice in Lockport, N.Y., bonding with and being cared for by the dedicated staff there — asked his younger brother, Ken Ozimek, to make sure the nurses were treated to a meal on Easter Sunday, per local outlet WKBW.

‘What are we doing?’ Decision to end life-prolonging interventions fraught with challenges 
Healio; by Josh Friedman; 4/13/26 
Key takeaways:

• Recommended approaches for clinicians to stop offering life-prolonging interventions focus on shared decision-making.
• Alternate approaches include not offering or mentioning treatment options.

‘We provide end-of-life care. Here is the advice we often hear from terminally ill patients’ 
Independent; by Rosie Shead; 4/13/26 
For the fundraising drive, Capital radio DJ Kemi Rodgers met with nurses from the end-of-life charity. They showcased placards adorned with wisdom from patients at a Superdrug store in London. One placard urged individuals to embrace the present and release past grievances. Further counsel included not dedicating too much time to work at the expense of life experiences, cherishing memories made with loved ones, and utilising money to create happy moments rather than saving it all for a future contingency, the charity stated. 

Sew Blessed honors Vietnam veteran with patriotic quilt 
The Herald, Roanoke Rapids, NC; 4/13/26 
April 9 was a special Sew Blessed day for the quilt makers as they thanked Russell Crotts, a local U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, for his military service and presented him with a patriotic quilt. ... Crotts spoke to the group about some critical events during his military service, how they affected him and how eventually those events led him to the training of Flo, his service dog. ... This past year, as a veteran pet support volunteer with Liberty Hospice, Russ and Flo have traveled multiple counties, visited 27 hospice patients, and provided an opportunity for a unique connection of comfort between Flo and Liberty Hospice patients.

[United Kingdom] Marathon run 'a gift', says mum with terminal cancer 
BBC; by Charlotte Coles and Seb Sargent; 4/12/26 
A woman with a rare terminal cancer is set to fulfil a "wild goal" when she runs the London Marathon in aid of a national cancer support charity. Sarah Demirtges, from Adderbury, Oxfordshire, was diagnosed with adrenal cancer in 2020 and is currently undergoing palliative treatment. The 47-year-old said she would be running to prove "to anyone affected by cancer that you can't be held back by things." The mum-of-two has raised more than £15,000 to date for Maggie's, to give "a little something back" to the charity she said has helped her.

If you get up early, work late, and pay your taxes, you will get ahead -- if you strike oil. ~ J. Paul Getty