Sheinelle Jones honors nurses who cared for her late husband
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle; YouTube segment from tv show; 2/4/26 
TODAY's Sheinelle Jones pays special tribute to the nurses and caretakers who looked after her husband Uche Ojeh while in hospice and not only made the time he had left more comfortable, but also supported her and the whole family during their most difficult moments. "The only reason I even have the strength to talk about it, is because I believe that they're our heroes. They deserve all the love and attention we can give them," she says. Then, the care team, Jazzie Stickle, Denise James Wright, Nykyra Owens, Chanel Duff and Jessica Goldstein, get a special surprise.
Editor's Note: This segment on TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle honored Uche's birthday, the first birthday Sheinelle and her family are experiencing since his death from brain cancer in May 2025. Hudson Valley Hospice provided hospice care, and beautifully represented the best of hospice care's philosophy and care. In addition to nurses and aides, Sheinelle especially thanked Uche's speech pathologist who helped him voice "I love you." I invite you to watch this and be inspired:  Sheinelle Jones' late husband Uche relearned to say 'I love you' in hospice. And she has the video.

Honoring Black History Month: Advancing equity in hospice and end-of-life care 
Gilchrist; by Gilchrist Staff; 2/3/26 
Black History Month is a time to honor the resilience, contributions, and leadership of Black Americans, past and present, while also reflecting on the work that remains to ensure equity across all areas of society, including healthcare. In hospice and palliative care, Black leaders, clinicians, advocates, and community members have played a vital role in expanding access, shaping compassionate care models, and addressing long-standing disparities at the end of life. At Gilchrist, Black History Month is not only about reflection, but also about action. 

Former HR worker wins over $5M in jury award for retaliation 
HR Dive; by Emilie Shumway; 2/3/26 
A Utah jury awarded a former HR benefits generalist $5 million on Jan. 29, finding that a preponderance of evidence showed her employer, Bristol Hospice, retaliated against her by firing her after she complained about her supervisor’s behavior (Graham v. Bristol Hospice Holdings, Inc.). According to a lawsuit filed in 2021, the plaintiff complained that her supervisor, a payroll director, subjected her to a hostile work environment. The vice president of HR allegedly investigated her complaint and dismissed it, determining the “behavior was a one-time issue, not a general behavioral concern.” But the behavior continued, per legal documents. 

Can AI hear when patients are ready for palliative care? Researchers use AI to analyze patient phone calls for vocal cues predicting palliative care acceptance 
Penn LDI - Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics; by Hoag Levins; 2/24/26 
A new study suggests artificial intelligence (AI) may help clinicians identify which seriously ill patients are ready for palliative care — by analyzing the energy, pitch, and other subtle vocal cues in recorded group phone conversations among patients, caregivers, and health care providers. The new work by a team led by LDI Senior Fellow and Penn Nursing School Assistant Professor Jiyoun Song, PhD, APRN, is the first to use speech processing to identify palliative care preferences during discussions and decision-making in managed long-term care (MLTC), a type of Medicaid-managed care for community-dwelling patients that need home and community-based services.

It’s time to get more comfortable with talking about dying: Palliative care physicians offer advice for end-of-life conversations between patients, loved ones 
The Harvard Gazetter; by Anna Lamb; 2/3/26 
More than 90 percent of Americans believe that we should be able to talk about death and dying, according to a recent poll. But only 27 percent were comfortable doing it, and 31 percent were uneasy about contemplating their own mortality. But things may be starting to change. Since the end of the pandemic, more Americans are having conversations about end-of-life care. And The New York Times cited a perceived desire for greater openness and more dialogue in launching a new series last year aimed at exploring various aspects of death and dying. 

Measures that matter: How better metrics can transform end-of-life care | part one 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Bob Tavares, Robin Heffernan and Mindy Stewart-Coffee; 2/4/26 
In Episode One of Measures That Matter: How Better Metrics Can Transform End-of-Life Care ... explores why fewer, clearer quality measures are essential for reducing variability, improving patient outcomes, and supporting value-based care at the end of life. ... Bob Tavares explains how decades of healthcare analytics revealed a fundamental problem in Hospice quality measurement: an abundance of metrics that fail to differentiate performance.  Many current measures cluster nearly all providers at the top, making it difficult for patients, payers, and value-based organizations to identify true centers of excellence or address variability that puts patients at risk.

O&I Subcommittee holds hearing on ongoing fraud in Medicare and Medicaid programs 
Energy & Commerce - Chairman Brett Guthrie, Washington, DC; Press Release; 2/3/26 
Today [2/3], Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, led a hearing titled Common Schemes, Real Harm: Examining Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. ... Watch the full hearing here. [Key excerpts:] ... Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01): “Auditors found 112 hospice providers operating out of a single physical address. 112...holy cow. As a result, hospice agencies in LA County alone likely overbilled Medicare by $105 million in just one year. […] It looks like it’s a problem in a lot of different places. 

Congressional hearing confronts hospice, health care fraud 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/4/26 
Regulatory reform, better data and more state-federal and other stakeholder partnerships are necessary to combat health care fraud in the United States, including among hospices. This was a key message in a recent hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Hospice fraud has been rampant in certain states. Unscrupulous providers have enrolled patients in hospice who were not eligible or without their knowledge or consent. They have also transferred patients from one hospice to another in exchange for monetary payments, engaged in “license flipping,” and paid illegal kickbacks for referrals, among other abuses.

Superior Health Holdings expands Louisiana hospice footprint with acquisition of Pulse Home Health and Hospice 
Business Wire, Baton Rouge, LA; Press Release; 2/4/26 
Superior Health Holdings (“Superior”) ... today announced the acquisition of the Pulse Home Health and Hospice (“Pulse”), a community-based provider delivering compassionate, high-quality care to patients and families in Louisiana. This acquisition expands Superior’s integrated care capabilities and strengthens its footprint in the Northshore region.

Ares, DaVita make strategic investment in Elara Caring 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 2/3/26 
Dallas-based Elara Caring has entered into a new strategic investment agreement with the private equity firm Ares Management Corporation and kidney care provider DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA). The dollar amounts of the investments were not disclosed. The transaction, announced on Tuesday, will be completed later in 2026, pending regulatory approval. Elara Caring will continue to operate as a wholly independent company. The company provides hospice, home and behavioral health, palliative and personal care services across 200 locations in 18 states.

Husband with ‘caregiver burnout’ pushes wife to end her life with Medical Aid in Dying despite her wishes: Report 
People Magazine; by Vanessa Etienne; 2/3/26 
Medical professionals express concerns about the speed of MAID assessments.

• A woman with ongoing health struggles brought up the idea of medical aid in dying to her family, but changed her mind due to “personal and religious values.”
• Her husband — who reportedly had “caregiver burnout” — later requested a second and “urgent” MAID assessment, which led to his wife’s death.
• A committee has since reviewed the case, questioning whether or not coercion played a role.

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter their color. ~ Maya Angelou