9/11 Remembrances Today
Hospice and Palliative Care Today; compiled by Joy Berger; 9/10/26 
In hospice and palliative care, we understand grief's long reach — the "normal" losses we companion daily, and the tragic ones that live on in us for a lifetime. Today marks 25 years since that morning. 

• New York City: 9/11 Memorial & Museum - 25 Years Later 
• Washington DC: The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
• Shanksville, PA: Flight 93 National Memorial
• Nationwide 9/11 Memorial Map: a growing map of memorials nationwide that honor the lives lost and the heroes who responded to the September 11 attacks. Each marker reflects a community’s dedication to remembrance, resilience, and unity. 

Many of you have enthusiastically told us that you start each morning with our newsletter's "Today Encouragement." May we join together from our locations across the nation, with a prayer sung by those young children (or not even born) when it occurred: "Let there be peace on earth," sung at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum by the Young People's Chorus of New York City, for Pope Francis and other world interfaith leaders.

CMS posts revised Model Election Statement and Addendum 
CMS; compiled by Guest Editor, Judi Lund Person; 9/10/26 
CMS has posted the revised model election statement and addendum to the CMS website, which includes language for the mandatory addendum effective October 1, 2026. Hospice providers can use these model forms as the guide to the revised form. Pay particular attention to using the forms with an August 2026 date.

• Model Example of Hospice Election Statement - August 2026 (PDF)
• Model Hospice Election Statement Addendum - August 2026 (PDF)

Compassus exec: hospice a ‘huge opportunity’ for growth
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/9/26
Hospices have untapped potential to grow their patient reach, according to Compassus Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Chris Core. ... You’ve seen us be very acquisitive over the last few years, and we’ve expanded rapidly. I think you’ll see that continue over the next few years. That’s a combination of de novos and new program locations, and in M&A as we’re looking at strategic acquisitions, new geographies and certainly new joint venture partnerships as well.

How compassion and research build palliative care for the precision oncology era 
OncLive; by Ross Camidge, MD, PhD and Laura A. Petrillo, MD; 9/9/26 
Drs. Camidge and Petrillo discuss Dr. Petrillo's evolution from a science-curious student to a leader in palliative care research. How This Is Building Me, hosted by world-renowned oncologist D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, is a podcast focused on the highs and lows, ups and downs of all those involved with cancer, cancer medicine, and cancer science across the full spectrum of life's experiences. In this episode, Dr Camidge sat down with Laura A. Petrillo, MD, a palliative care physician-investigator in the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Federal judge rejects bid to block Illinois’ ‘Medical Aid in Dying’ law days before it takes effect
WTTW Public Broadcasting System, Chicago, IL; by Matt Masterson; 9/10/26 
A federal judge has denied a motion that sought to block a controversial new Illinois law that will allow terminally ill adults to take life-ending medication, just days before that law is set to take effect. In a 25-page ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Tharp rejected a request for a preliminary injunction that would’ve halted the state’s new End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, or EOLA, from being implemented beginning Saturday.

Dementia center in Ocala receives donation of laptops, books 
WCJB-20 ABC, Gainesville/Ocala, FL; by Radaysha Robinson and WCJB Staff; 9/8/26 
A dementia education and care center in Marion County is getting new resources to help families navigate the disease. Congresswoman Kat Cammack stopped by the Empath Dementia Education and Care Center to donate laptops and books to help with dementia education on Tuesday. The center opened in March as a one-stop location for people living with dementia, along with their families and caregivers. It offers an adult day center, caregiver education classes, and programs designed to help people better understand how dementia can affect communication and behavior.

24 hour home care to lay off over 700 employees 
Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 9/4/26 
24 Hour Home Care plans to lay off 738 employees, according to a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing. The layoffs are scheduled to take effect on Sept. 15, according to the filing. 24 Hour Home Care said the layoffs were the result of Health Net’s planned discontinuation of Personal Care and Homemaker Services (PCHS), an optional Community Support under the insurer’s Medi-Cal managed care plans, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Health Net is a California health insurer and managed-care organization.

Former VA nurse charged with intentionally abusing hospice patient 
News 8 Now, La Crosse/Toma, WI; by Sam Shilts; 9/10/26 
A former registered nurse at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center faces a felony charge after prosecutors say she intentionally removed oxygen from a dying hospice patient, causing him great bodily harm. Beth Marie Holtz, 53, of New Berlin, was charged Wednesday in Monroe County court with intentionally abusing a patient causing great bodily harm. An arrest warrant was issued the same day. According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred Aug. 17, 2025, involving a 75-year-old patient who had been admitted to hospice with pulmonary fibrosis and had a medical order for continuous oxygen supply.

The conversations Gloria Steinem started 
PressReader, The Boston Globe, Boston, MA; by Wendy Kaminer; 9/5/26 
Among many other top­ics, she offered wis­dom on aging and grief. Gloria Steinem, who died Wed­nes­day [9/2], at 92, will be remembered for her advocacy for women’s rights and her determ­in­a­tion to chal­lenge con­ven­tions (“At Smith and bey­ond, her words resound,” Page A1, Sept. 4). She spent much of her life chal­len­ging us to talk openly about sub­jects that were often ignored, among them, par­tic­u­larly in her later years, aging and grief. She cel­eb­rated aging when many tried to res­ist it. ... She did not treat grief as a taboo topic either.

[Australia] $15.4m investment to expand high-quality palliative care across Australia 
University of Wollongong Australia; Press Release; 9/9/26 
Every year, thousands of patients and their families navigate the end-of-life without the care they deserve and need. A major initiative, led by the University of Wollongong (UOW), will ensure patients receive compassionate palliative care regardless of their postcode. Building on the success of UOW’s Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), the new program PCOC-Plus was awarded $15.4 million from the Australian Government to translate PCOC’s groundbreaking research into clinical practice, improving support and care for people with life-ending illnesses
Editor's Note: Bravo for significant funding "to translate ... groundbreaking research into clinical practice, improving support and care for people with life-ending illnesses." Too much of our U.S. focus has pivoted to defunding research, measuring hospice success by M&A profits, and siloing research off from clinical care. In your own setting, at no cost, regularly harvest our Saturday Research issues (see this week's Tuesday's Tool) to "translate groundbreaking research into clinical practice, improving support and care" for the people you serve.

Executive Personnel Changes - 9/11/26

• LifeCare Home Health & Hospice Family based in Irving, Texasnames Dr. Nasser Khan President and COO

"Let there be peace on earth," sung at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum by the Young People's Chorus of New York City, for Pope Francis and other world interfaith leaders 
YouTube; excerpt from televised global service in the surviving, deepest basement of the Twin Towers; 9/25/15 
On September 25, 2015, Pope Francis led a profound interfaith prayer service at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Held in the subterranean Foundation Hall against the solemn backdrop of the World Trade Center’s original wall that protects land from the Hudson River, the historic gathering brought together around 500 guests and leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh traditions to promote global peace and healing. The emotional climax of the service occurred when the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, comprised of more than 60 diverse teenage singers, delivered a moving rendition of "Let There Be Peace on Earth," echoing a message of unity through the sacred, historic space. Click here to watch this moving YouTube video.