HopeHealth receives $200K grant to expand community engagement efforts 
Providence Business News, Providence, RI; by PBN Staff; 6/7/26 
HopeHealth, the second-oldest hospice organization in the country, says it has received a $200,000 grant from Papitto Opportunity Connection to support the launch of a new community engagement program aimed at connecting underserved people with grief support, palliative care services and end-of-life care through hospice. The aims of the new program include building awareness of the benefits of palliative care, hospice, grief support and family caregiver support.

VITAS CEO: CMS’ national moratorium disappointing 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/5/26 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) national moratorium on home health and hospice enrollment is “disappointing,” according to VITAS Healthcare CEO Joel Wherley. ... “Our stance and position in working with [CMS Administrator] Dr. Oz and their group is that we are extremely supportive,” VITAS CEO Joel Wherley said at the RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference. “What we are disappointed in is the broad brush approach they decided to take nationally in announcing the hospice moratorium. We would much more prefer a targeted specific approach where they’ve identified areas of fraud and work specifically then with local and state governments to weed out that fraud.”

Aroostook Hospice Foundation nets funding 
The County, Presque Isle, ME; by Aroostook Hospice; 6/3/26 
The Aroostook Hospice Foundation recently received generous donor advised funding through the Maine Community Foundation in support of its Charity Care Patient Assistance Fund. The Foundation received a $15,000 contribution from the Willey Family Foundation as part of its five year pledge commitment connected to the naming of Suite 4 at the Aroostook House of Comfort. The gift was designated toward Charity Care. In addition, the Foundation received a $1,000 contribution from the Mimi Fund.

Pulling for Hospice draws record turnout 
WIFR, South Beloit, IL; by Madalyne Korzeniewski and Caleb Mays; 6/7/26 
Teams put their strength to the test Sunday during Pulling for Hospice, a fundraiser supporting Beloit Regional Hospice patients and their families. Teams of eight to 10 people competed to pull a fire truck 75 feet as quickly as possible. The event raises money for services not always covered through traditional care, including grief support and family programs. Beloit Regional Hospice has served families across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois for more than 40 years. Organizers say the fundraiser has grown significantly since it began six years ago, expanding from about eight teams to 16 this year and moving to the Beloit Health System. 

Every bead tells a story: Carolina Caring Foundation invests $5,000 in Beads of Courage® program for children facing serious illness 
Carolina Caring; Press Release; 6/8/26 
For children living with serious illness, every milestone matters. These moments of achievement can include completing a medical treatment, overcoming a hospital stay, celebrating a birthday, or reaching a personal goal for the first time. To help create more of these meaningful moments, the Carolina Caring Foundation has awarded a $5,000 Gift Back Grant to the Cardinal Kids Beads of Courage® program. This grant supports one of the many life enrichment experiences offered to pediatric patients and families served by Carolina Caring. Beads of Courage® is a nationally recognized program that honors the journeys of children facing complex medical conditions.

Los Angeles County Fraud Hotline 
LACounty.gov | Department of Auditor-Controller, Office of County Investigations; 6/8/26 
You may remain anonymous, but having the ability to contact the informant is often critical to the success of an investigation. If you choose to provide your name and contact information, the County will hold your identity in confidence to the extent allowed by law. You can read more about this here.

Momentum builds on Capitol Hill to strengthen Medicare 
American Medical Association (AMA); by Tanya Albert Henry; 6/8/26 
AMA-backed bill targets budget rules that trigger across-the-board physician payment cuts and threaten access to care. CMS eases Medicare claims process. Physicians are gaining ground in efforts to change federal policy that has contributed to Medicare rates falling about 33% since 2001 when adjusted for inflation. A bipartisan bill—one of several the AMA has supported in its multipronged effort to improve the Medicare physician payment system—was recently introduced in the House of Representatives and it aims to overhaul the Medicare Incentive-based Payment System (MIPS) to make it more efficient, useful and fair for participating physicians. 

When it’s time to die: the need for palliative care training 
Psychology Today; by Shannon F.R. Small, MD; 6/1/26 
It's important to know how to discuss death in surgical care. Have you ever had to tell someone that they are dying? ... In my field of trauma and surgical critical care, and in many other surgical specialties, such as surgical oncology, transplant surgery, or cardiothoracic surgery, the word death must not be seen as taboo. Helping patients and their families cope with the possibility of dying is increasingly recognized as crucial to surgical training, as evidenced by one study, which had greater than 90% of the faculty reporting that the graduating chief residents needed more training in conducting goals of care and end of life conversations.

The Pennant Group and Hartford HealthCare expand collaboration to advance home-based care in Connecticut 
Stock Titan; Press Release; 6/4/26 
Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) and Hartford HealthCare are expanding their strategic collaboration to advance home-based care in Connecticut. The partners plan mutual investment and a transition into a unified, forward-looking operating entity.

 The impact of assisted dying legislation on nursing practice in palliative care: a scoping review 
Journal of Advanced Nursing; by Marlene Werner, Christiane Kreyer, Sabine Pleschberger; 6/5/26 
Aim: To review the literature on the state of research on the impacts of assisted dying on nursing practice within specialised palliative care.
Results: Fifteen studies published between 2019 and 2024, all from Canada or the United States, met the inclusion criteria. Three themes were identified: (1) positioning and meaning, describing how nurses are required to position themselves and to renegotiate their values; (2) impact on core competencies, capturing changes in key nursing responsibilities; and (3) challenges in interpersonal relationships, referring to increased team conflicts and shifts in relationships with patients and their families. 

Your senior parents are easier to impersonate than you are 
FOX News; by Kurt Knutsson; 5/30/26 
Americans 60 and older filed 201,266 complaints with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025 and reported $7.7 billion in losses, the highest total of any age group. The average loss for older victims was nearly $38,500, almost double the figure for younger filers. The Federal Trade Commission's December 2025 report to Congress estimated that the overall cost of fraud to older adults in 2024 ranged from $10.1 billion to $81.5 billion, depending on how underreporting is measured. Two decades of breach dumps now sit between your parents and the systems still verifying them by date of birth, mailing address and the last four of a Social Security number.

I believe that no one should ever have to choose between a career we love and living our lives with authenticity and integrity. ~ Selisse Berry
Honoring Pride Month 2026