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Hospice & Palliative Care Today / Composing Life Out of Loss; by Joy S. Berger; 7/2/26
Decade by decade, our 25-part daily series has been tracing the evolving story of health, equity, caregiving, and the pursuit of human dignity. With all 25 decades compiled, join us in reflecting on how the past shapes the hospice and palliative care we provide today—and the chapters we are called to write ahead. This downloadable e-book includes:

• Introduction and Epilogue
• All entries from our daily posts, with many fresh graphics (this project took on a life of its own!)
• Table of Contents to easily navigate dates and topics

Hospice & Palliative Care Today has partnered with Composing Life Out of Loss for the authoring, publication and distribution of this timely resource.

Melanie Ramey obituary
Personal Communication; by Cordt T. Kassner; 7/2/26
Melanie Ramey, former CEO of the Hospice Organizations and Palliative Experts of Wisconsin, died on June 8, 2026, at the age of 87. She will be remembered for her fierce advocacy, brilliant mind, compassionate heart, and (in)famous humor.

VITAS Healthcare promotes Bryan Wysong to Chief Operations Officer 
South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report; Press Release; 7/2/26 
VITAS Healthcare announced the promotion of Bryan Wysong to chief operations officer (COO). As executive vice president and COO, Wysong will lead companywide operations across VITAS, overseeing hospice care delivery, high acuity services, operational performance, quality improvement, home medical equipment and palliative care services. He will work closely with leaders across the organization to strengthen clinical excellence, advance operational performance and support the continued growth of VITAS. Since joining VITAS in 2014 as an internal management consultant, Wysong has held leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including senior director, vice president, head of high acuity services and senior vice president of operational performance. 

Mt. Hood Hospice gets $41K after largest-ever fundraising month 
Sandy Post, Sandy, OR; by Christopher Keizur; 7/1/26 
The 2026 Support Mt. Hood Hospice Month is an annual effort that involves businesses, organizations, and community members across the greater Sandy area. It is in support of Mt. Hood Hospice, which provides care to terminally ill patients regardless of their ability to pay. “This year we tried a lot of new things and had better numbers and donations,” said Brian York, marketing specialist for Clackamas County Bank. On Wednesday, July 1, at Mt. Hood Hospice, 39085 Pioneer Boulevard, a check for $41,877.99 was presented (leave it to a bank to be so precise). That is the highest donation yet.

Family Hospice hosts open house and ribbon-cutting for new McDonough Inpatient Unit 
Observer-Dispatch, McDonough, GA; by EIN Presswire; 7/2/26 
Family Hospice welcomed community leaders, healthcare professionals, and community partners on June 25 for an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating its new McDonough Inpatient Unit. The event marked an important milestone in the organization’s continued commitment to expanding access to compassionate hospice care.  ... “At Family Hospice, our mission is simple: We are a team that cares for people, and we make lives better,” said Charlie Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Family Hospice. “Our new McDonough Inpatient Unit reflects that commitment and will allow us to provide an additional level of compassionate care and support for patients and families.”

Dignity, not dollars: Thompson reflects on HopeWest’s role in community as he retires 
Montrose Press, Montrose, CO; by Katharhynn Heidelberg; 7/1/26 
Kelly Thompson never expected to finish his working life at a service providing hospice and palliative care, with other supportive services. When the Grand Junction native returned to the area by moving to Montrose from Lakewood 28 years ago, he had been a horticulturist. Here, he taught at Northside and Pomona elementary schools after earning certification at CMU-Montrose. Thompson was set. Then along came his "10-year itch," and an opportunity at HopeWest's Heirlooms for Hospice store in Montrose. Thompson rose to the manager's position and later, became the care oganization's volunteer coordinator. "I loved that position," Thompson said. Not bad for someone who, upon beginning with HopeWest says he barely knew what the word "hospice" meant. His life's path turned again when HopeWest's program director announced her retirement and approached him about putting in for the position. ...

Hospice pinning ceremony honors Margate veteran 
The Press of Atlantic City; by Haram Shahid; 7/1/26 
After celebrating 87 Fourths of July, Vietnam War veteran Tom Misner knows the simple pleasures that make America home: Homemade Italian gravy filled with meatballs and sausage, dairy-free ice cream packed with thick chunks of pecans, and “God Bless America” sung by his music therapist. On Wednesday, days before Independence Day, Misner’s front yard was filled with neighbors, family, hospice staff and even his mail carrier for a pinning ceremony honoring his service in the Navy from 1956 to 1962 and the Army Reserves from 1976 to 1985. The ceremony, organized by NJ Health Hospice, is part of a veteran recognition program that brings end-of-life care into moments of memory, identity and community, focusing not just on medical support but on honoring the lives patients lived before hospice.

CMS is right about hospice fraud but wrong about the moratorium on new enrollments 
Health Affairs; by Tamara Weaver; 6/30/26 
Under CMS’s six-month moratorium on new enrollments, I have effectively been told to sit still, burn cash, and hope I survive long enough to eventually serve patients. That is not good policy. That is collateral damage. I am exactly the kind of hospice agency owner the federal government should want in this industry. I am not a private equity fund. I am not a shell company. I am not a fraudster who enrolled patients who did not qualify, billed for services never rendered, or relocated across state lines to outrun regulators. I am a founder who spent years building something genuinely different—investing my life savings, my retirement, and my professional identity into a mission-driven hospice designed specifically as an antidote to the failures that have eroded trust in end-of-life care. ...

Navigating the 2026 home health & hospice M&A market  
Levin Associates; by CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors; 7/2/26 
Through the first six months of 2026, there have been 55 Home Health & Hospice transactions, a slightly slower pace than the same period in 2025 (58 deals). Around 41% of these deals in 2026 were committed by private equity (PE) firms. Although we’re still seeing the usual add-on acquisitions from PE-backed portfolio companies, there have also been some high-profile platform deals this year. Firms such as Palladium Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus added new home health operators to their portfolios this year, and, in the sector’s largest deal, General Atlantic acquired TEAM Services Group from Alpine Investors for $3 billion, including debt.

CMS mulls tougher Medicare enrollment rules to combat fraud as part of 2027 home health payment rule 
Fierce Healthcare; by Heather Landi; 7/1/26 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released on Wednesday afternoon its 2027 proposed payment rule for home health agencies. The rule includes an aggregate payment increase of $420 million, or 2.4%, based on a proposed 2.1% payment update and an estimated 0.3% increase related to the fixed dollar loss ratio. That 2.1% payment update represents $370 million, according to a CMS fact sheet. The proposal also includes updates to payment methodologies, case-mix weights, outlier payments and quality reporting requirements, while seeking feedback on expanding access to home-based palliative care. Beyond payment policy, CMS is proposing a series of anti-fraud measures that would make all Medicare enrollment revocations retroactive and broaden the agency’s authority to deny or revoke enrollment for providers and suppliers linked to compliance violations. 

2007-2017: 250 Years - A History of Care
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy Berger; for 7/3/26
Read details and explore source link

• A Decade We Remember: 2007-2016 in American Life
• From Movement to System: Hospice and Palliative Care Become a Measured Presence in American Health Care
• Care Under Pressure: Different Hospice Models, Different Patterns of Care
• Rewriting the Rules of Access: The Affordable Care Act, Aging, and Serious Illness
• Healing in an Age of Trauma: Repeated Violence, Black Lives, and the Work of Care

Where liberty dwells, there is my country. ~ Benjamin Franklin