Geographic and sociodemographic disparities in access to hospice in Pennsylvania 
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Jacob Whitman, PhD, Dylan Nagy, MS, Harsheni Sudakar, BSPH, Coleman Drake, PhD, Lindsay Sabik, PhD, and Yael Schenker; 2/14/26 online ahead of print 
Results: In total, 2.3 million Pennsylvanians, or 17% of the state population, reside in census tracts classified as cold spots. Cold spots were concentrated in rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged regions. Compared with other tracts, cold spot tracts were lower income, less educated, older, more reliant on public insurance, and less racially diverse. Patterns were consistent when restricting to high quality hospice and nonprofit hospices.
Conclusion: Geographic disparities in hospice access compound existing sociodemographic inequities. Addressing these inequities will require efforts to expand high-quality hospice availability in underserved communities.

'My wedding dress funded care for dying children' 
BBC News, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom; by Grace Wood; 2/14/26 
As any bride-to-be knows, wedding dresses can come at a terrifying cost, with the average price sitting at around £1,500. But at one specialist charity shop in West Yorkshire brides can not only pick up a dress at a fraction of the cost, but also give something back. Situated on the top floor of the Forget Me Not Children's Hospice store in Huddersfield, Holmfirth Bridal Suite is not your normal charity shop. Instead of the usual array of second-hand clothes the rails are lined with hundreds of pre-loved or donated wedding dresses. ... "Your average wedding dress is thousands of [dollars] and you wear it for one day, and then it goes in a box, and thankfully people are donating them here to be able to sell on and make more money for the hospice" ...

VITAS CEO Joel Wherley: 4 core values of hospice care 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/6/26 
A mission-driven approach that prioritizes patient and employee well-being is crucial to success as a hospice business, according to Joel Wherley, president and CEO of VITAS Healthcare. ... Hospice News sat down with Wherley at the Home Care 100 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss his outlook for hospice in 2026, what the community can expect for VITAS in 2026 and what keeps him up at night as a health care leader. ...

• Our first key core value is that patients and families come first.  ...
• Our second key core value, however, aligns right next to that first key core value, and that is, we take care of each other. ...
• Our third key core value is, I think, a really unique but simplistic thought. We’re humans providing care for humans. ...
• Then the fourth one to me, in hospice something that I have learned that I think is the most important. Hospice is not about death. It’s about life. ...

'An alarm bell': Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service shutters amid turmoil for home health care 
Santa Fe New Mexican; Santa Fe, NM; by Margaret O'Hara; 2/16/26 
A home health and hospice agency that has been serving Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties for more than 50 years will shutter later this month, a closure agency officials attributed to decreasing revenue from patient insurance and sharply rising health care costs. Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service will halt operations Friday. The loss should serve as a warning, said Meggin Lorino, executive director of the New Mexico Association for Home and Hospice Care. The decision to shutter Los Alamos Visiting Nurses comes as rural health care providers grapple with an abundance of challenges, which range from operating on razor-thin financial margins to impending cuts to Medicaid to the added pressures of the state’s aging population.
Editor's Note: This provides further information to the article we posted 2/13/26, "Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service closing its doors but other options are available to those in need."

What can we learn from death in the age of longevity? 
Time; by Arianna Huffington; 2/16/26 
Joanna Ebenstein, author of Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life, sums up what death has to teach us: “The mystery of death has, for millennia, led us to ask the big, existential questions: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life?” And yet, in our modern world, we’ve consigned death to the world of medicine and machines. ... Research on those at the end of life shows that ... [at] the end, we don’t crave more status or more things, but more connection; ... that common reflections include concern for loved ones, gratitude, and spirituality. Another found that the most commonly discussed topics included accepting one's imperfections, celebrating and appreciating what you have, giving, and service to others.” ... If hospice patients can grow and change at the end of life, why not grow and change now? ... It is a surprising, but important, lesson to learn: bringing death into our lives is what paradoxically allows us to live more fully.  
Editor's Note: What rich research and reflection. If, at the end of life, people speak most of connection, gratitude, reconciliation, and meaning, then hospice is not merely managing symptoms—it is tending what matters most. From the patient’s perspective, this is why the interdisciplinary team matters: together, we create the space where comfort and meaning can coexist.

Sabbaticals provide a critical lifeline for sustainable medical careers [podcast] 
MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; podcast by KevinMD; 2/14/26 
Palliative care physician and certified physician development coach Christie Mulholland discusses her article “Why every physician needs a sabbatical (and how to take one).” Christie reveals the harsh reality that while sabbaticals exist on paper, unwritten rules often prevent doctors from accessing this critical recovery tool until it is too late. She shares her personal journey of taking an unsanctioned, unpaid break to combat burnout and how that decision allowed her to return to medicine with renewed purpose. 

Oregon considers bill to stop hospice scammers from entering state 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/13/26 
State lawmakers in Oregon are mulling a bill designed to combat hospice fraud. Senate Bill 1575 would prevent hospices that have committed fraud or provided substandard care in other states from setting up shop in Oregon. If enacted, the Oregon Health Authority, a state agency, would examine the history of companies seeking to open hospices before approving a license, including Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey results, among other information. 

Unlocking leadership potential: Through self awareness with coach Sherry Winn | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN) / TCNtalks; hosted by Chris Comeaux with Sherry Winn; 2/13/26 
If Part One of our conversation with Coach Sherry Winn challenged the way you think about leadership and self-awareness, Part Two goes even deeper—into the heart of who we are and who we’re becoming as leaders. In this powerful continuation of Unlocking Leadership Potential Through Self-Awareness, Coach Winn invites us to look beyond strategies and performance metrics and examine the internal patterns, beliefs, and identity that truly shape our impact. Because lasting leadership growth doesn’t begin with tactics—it begins within.

Psychosocial oncology: The Omega Project 
Taylor & Francis | Death Studies; by Matthew Loscalzo and Linda A. Klein; 2/14/26
This article reports on an interview with J. William Worden that focuses initially on the Omega Project (1968–1986) that studied end-of-life care. Worden explains the four phases of the project with specific populations, goals, and key concepts that emerged. The discussion then shifts to the development of psychosocial oncology and palliative care. Finally, Worden offers some thoughts on the development of the hospice movement in the United States, the role of religion in coping with mortality, coping with personal loss, and his advice to new medical or graduate students just starting out.

About 1 in 15 older Emergency Department patients are prescribed high-risk medications 
Medscape; edited by Gargi Mukherjee; 2/13/26 
Analysis of over 16 million emergency department (ED) encounters revealed that about 1 in 15 (6.5%) older adults received potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) at discharge. Prescription rates declined with advancing age, from 8.3% among patients aged 65-74 years to 1.8% among those aged 95 years or older. Skeletal muscle relaxants and first-generation antihistamines were the most commonly prescribed high-risk medications.

The great beyond: Why the traditional American funeral is vanishing 
South Florida Reporter; 2/15/26 
For over a century, the American way of death was standardized: a polished mahogany casket, a room heavy with the scent of lilies, an embalmed body, and a solemn procession to a manicured cemetery plot. But in 2026, that script is being rewritten. The “traditional” funeral—once a cornerstone of community life—is facing a quiet but definitive demise. ...

• The Financial Burden of "Resting in Peace" ...
• From "Grief" to "Celebration" ...
• The Green Grave ...
• The Digital Afterlife ...
• Sources ...

The Winter Olympics remind us that greatness is built on perseverance, not perfection.