For families facing the unthinkable, NPHI launches new Guide to help navigate a child’s serious illness 
National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/14/26 
... Fewer than one in 10 children who die in the United States receive hospice care, underscoring an important opportunity to better support families facing a child’s serious illness. The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the national voice for nonprofit hospice and advanced illness care, recently released the Advanced Pediatric Care™ Patient & Caregiver Guide — a free national resource created by pediatric hospice and palliative care experts from nonprofit providers across the country to give families something the system has never reliably given them: national clear, trustworthy guidance when a child is seriously ill. [Download the Guide]

[United Kingdom] Bristol Airport charity ride raises record £110,000 for Children’s Hospice South West 
TravelPRNews, Bristol, UK; by Sheryl Rivera; 9/15/26
Bristol Airport has turned a two-day cycling challenge into its biggest charity fundraiser to date, with 38 employees and business partners raising £110,000 for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW). The riders completed a 180-mile journey from Tenby in Pembrokeshire to Bristol Airport on September 10 and 11, covering a mix of roads, coastal sections, countryside and gravel tracks. ... The fundraising total also surpassed the event’s original aim and became the largest amount Bristol Airport says it has raised through a single charity event. ... While the main group was on the road, airport colleagues recreated the challenge inside the terminal by cycling the equivalent distance on exercise bikes in the departure lounge.
Editor's Note: Creative. Community engagement. Enthusiasm. Successful. Read and be inspired.

The critical competencies hospice leaders must build for value-based care success | part one 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Jessica Hubbs; 9/16/26 
Value-based care isn’t just changing how hospice gets paid—it’s redefining what hospice leaders must be capable of delivering. In Part One of The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jessica Hubbs, Chief Clinical Officer at Advanced Care Innovations, to explore the accelerating shift from fee-for-service healthcare toward models built around outcomes, total cost of care, and coordinated care delivery.  Dr. Hubbs explains why emerging models such as LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design) matter to hospice and palliative care leaders—and why the movement upstream into serious illness and home-based care could represent both a competitive headwind and an extraordinary opportunity.

Hospice families and Mercy patients navigate overlapping Allina strikes as health system reports 37 doctors crossed picket lines
Medical Daily, Minneapolis, MN; by Elena Vega; 9/16/26
Allina Health says only about half of the nearly 150 physicians represented by Doctors Council SEIU walked off the job when a four-day strike began Monday, Sept. 14, at Mercy Hospital's Coon Rapids campus and Unity campus in Fridley. Allina spokesperson Blois Olson told the Minnesota Reformer that 37 union doctors crossed the picket line and 40 were not scheduled to work this week. ... As of Wednesday, Sept. 16, MedicalDaily had not found a newer official count or a public response from the union. The physician strike is running alongside a separate seven-day walkout by roughly 60 Allina hospice nurses that began Friday, Sept. 11, and is scheduled to run through Thursday, Sept. 17.

Hospice Home & Garden Tour raises $40K+ for Granite VNA 
The Laconia Daily Sun, Laconia, NH; Press Release; 9/15/26 
Nearly 500 attendees explored four exceptional properties in East Alton and Wolfeboro during Granite VNA’s annual Hospice Home & Garden Tour on July 15. The tour raised more than $40,000 to support the agency’s hospice services. Guests enjoyed an afternoon experiencing rich history through architecture and thoughtfully designed and renovated interiors and taking in stunning views of Lake Winnipesaukee from three of the properties. 

SSM Health donates $25,000 to help Central Missourians with hardship assistance 
News Tribune; by Jennifer Pallikkathayil; 9/15/26 
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital has donated $25,000 to the In Time of Need Foundation to help Central Missourians with basic needs during a significant medical event. The In Time of Need Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Phoenix Home Care and Hospice, which has a location in Jefferson City and offers home health care and hospice services. The foundation was created to help people get through significant or catastrophic medical events by assisting with basic needs, such as rent or a hotel stay while receiving surgery in another city or a working air conditioner for a cancer patient, said Greg Kelley, vice president of operations at Phoenix Home Care and Hospice.

Phoenix Home Care & Hospice expands Technology Assisted Waiver Services to Southeast Kansas 
The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO; Press Release; 9/15/26 
Phoenix Home Care & Hospice has expanded its Technology Assisted Waiver services into six Southeast Kansas counties: Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and Neosho. ... Phoenix's Technology Assisted Waiver nurses provide individualized care based on each child's medical needs and plan of care. Services may include ventilator management, tracheostomy care, G-tube feedings, medication administration and management, IV therapy, total parenteral nutrition, routine blood draws and other skilled nursing services.

Death Matters: The bedside vigil (Part 2) — after death arrives
Sequim Gazette, Sequim, WA; by Jeanette Stehr-Green and Astrid Raffinpeyloz; 9/16/26
The bedside vigil is the act of sitting by a dying person during their final hours or days, holding space for them with a loving presence, and tending to their needs. The vigil can provide comfort and companionship to the dying person. It can offer meaning and peace to all involved. The undertaking, however, does not end with the loved one’s last breath. Immediately following the death, the vigil enters a new stage, one that allows time to honor the moment but also attend to the practical steps that must follow. ...

National trends in types of hospice disenrollment among older adults with dementia, 2012–2019 
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; by Lauren J. Hunt, Siqi Gan, Krista L. Harrison, Melissa D. Aldridge, Claire Ankuda, W. John Boscardin, Alexandra K. Lee, and Alexander K. Smith; 9/15/26 
Key Points

• Among Medicare beneficiaries with dementia, overall hospice disenrollment changed little from 2012 to 2019, while the composition of agency-reported reasons for disenrollment shifted slightly.
• Disenrollment due to extended prognosis declined after policy implementation, while transfers and moves out of the service area increased across the study period.
• For-profit hospices had consistently higher rates of disenrollment, particularly transfers, moves, and revocations.

Why Does This Paper Matter? Examining hospice disenrollment by type reveals patterns that are obscured by overall disenrollment rates alone. Our findings show the importance of disaggregating disenrollment by type. Future research should examine how agency-reported disenrollment reasons reflect the underlying circumstances.

ACU [Abilene Christian University] partners with Cuidado Casero Home Health & Hospice 
Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX; Press Release; 9/16/26 
Through a new partnership, Abilene Christian University (ACU) and Cuidado Casero Home Health and Hospice are making it more affordable and accessible for employees and affiliates to invest in their futures. Employees or affiliates of Cuidado Casero Home Health and Hospice will receive a tuition discount for any online certificate or degree program offered by ACU, plus a waived application fee. 

Hospice Insights Podcast - Getting ahead of the curve: how hospice providers can build smart AI practices, part 1 
JD Supra; by Husch Blackwell LLP; 9/16/26 
AI tools are already showing up in hospice operations whether organizations have formal policies for them or not—and the compliance and liability questions are emerging just as quickly. In this two-part series, Husch Blackwell’s Bryan Nowicki and Taylor Crossley break down what the legal exposure looks like across clinical documentation, vendor relationships, and billing, and they take hospice leaders through concrete steps for building AI governance to stay ahead of associated risks.

Innovation is not primarily about coming up with new ideas. It's about connecting good ideas to human needs. ~ Wendy Kopp