Private equity’s joint venture takeover of nonprofit healthcare 
Private Equity Stakeholder Project; Report; 7/6/26 
Behind nonprofit partnerships, private equity firms are building a growing footprint across hospitals, hospice, rehabilitation, and outpatient care. Over the past decade, private equity has dramatically expanded its presence across the healthcare system. While much of the public attention has focused on traditional acquisitions of hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes, and other providers, private equity firms are increasingly pursuing another strategy: joint ventures with nonprofit health systems. PESP’s new report examines how these partnerships have become an increasingly important avenue for private equity-backed healthcare companies to expand across hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, hospice, home health, behavioral health, and other sectors.

Navigating AI & change management: the evolving landscape of leadership in the age of continuous disruption 
Recruit-Talent.com | Leadership & Management; 7/24/26|
... The Dawn of AI Change Leadership: Redefining Transformation
AI change leadership is defined as the practice of facilitating the adaptation of individuals, teams, and entire organizations to the relentless pace of AI-driven transformation. Unlike traditional change management, which typically focuses on discrete initiatives with defined endpoints, AI change leadership grapples with ongoing technological disruption, the dynamic evolution of workforce skills, the complex interplay of human-AI collaboration, and escalating concerns surrounding trust and ethical implications. For decades, leadership research has underscored a fundamental tension inherent in successful change: the coexistence of stability and change. ... However, AI change leadership fundamentally disrupts this established paradigm. 

National Alliance for Care at Home welcomes Denis Fleming Jr. as Chief Government Affairs Officer
National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/23/26 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today announced longtime industry leader Denis Fleming Jr. will serve as Chief Government Affairs Officer effective August 10. Fleming is a distinguished government affairs leader bringing over two decades of experience spanning key leadership roles in Congress, with state executive bodies, and major home health and hospice companies. Most recently, Fleming served as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs with United Health Group after serving 8 years as Senior Vice President & Legislative Counsel, State and Federal Affairs at LHC Group, where he led federal and state advocacy for this national home health and hospice provider. 

Same team, same care, new name: interim healthcare offices in Lubbock and throughout West Texas become ExcelaCare 
Newsnet, Lubbock, TX; by EIN Presswire; 7/27/26 
A trusted provider of home health and hospice care in communities throughout West Texas, formerly known as Interim Healthcare, is officially transitioning to a new name: ExcelaCare. These local offices across the region, including Lubbock, TX and surrounding areas, will continue delivering the same patient-centered care under new branding. “While our logo and colors are changing, our ownership, management, and the local teams you have come to know and trust are not,” said the organization’s founder. ... The rebrand comes as the organization continues to pursue excellence across all its services and reflects an effort to elevate its ongoing dedication to the communities it has served for years as Interim. The local staff and day-to-day operations remain unchanged; only the name and visual identity are new.

Life’s Treasures Thrift Store plans Dade City location
The Laker Lutz News, Dade City, FL; Press Release; 7/26/26
Chapters Health System, a nonprofit hospice organization, has leased a 10,000-square-foot retail space at 12709 U.S. 301 in Dade City to serve as a new Life’s Treasures Thrift Store location. The thrift store is moving from Zephyrhills to provide a more modernized shopping experience. The relocation is part of a strategic update of the health system’s thrift stores that benefit the charity grief and hospice services of HPH Hospice and LifePath Hospice, affiliates of Chapters Health System. The organization also recently leased a 10,000-square-foot thrift store location planned for The Villages.

At and end-of-life care home, a young cancer survivor finds his calling  
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY; by Jon Harris; 7/28/26 
Seated in the chapel at Sloan Comfort Care Home, 22-year-old Evan Folsom reflected on what working at the end-of-life facility has meant to him. "The Home did come at the right time for me," said Folsom, hours after finishing an overnight shift there, and a day before taking the daylong Medical College Admission Test. Folsom survived a brain tumor as a toddler and spent years recovering. That alone shaped an interest in medicine. ... His work at Sloan Comfort Care Home helped him come to terms with certain issues and fueled his interest in studying the complex moral and ethical questions that arise in medicine. So he took a "shot in the dark" and applied to Harvard Medical School's Master of Science in Bioethics program, along with a few other schools. He got into all of them but chose Harvard because Boston holds a special full-circle meaning for him. Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, is where he received treatment as a toddler. "Harvard was specifically deep for me, because that's kind of where my journey started," he said. Folsom leaves for Boston on Aug. 1 ...

Local nurse goes to Washington DC to meet with elected officials about hospice fraud 
YubaNet.com, Grass Valley, CA; by Foothills Compassionate Care; 7/22/26 
Last month, at end of June, Registered Nurse, Kellie Bolle of Foothills Compassionate Care, traveled to Washington DC to meet with elected officials on the issue of fraud, waste and abuse in hospice care. ... With a rapidly escalating fraud crisis in hospice care, reputable, mission-focused organizations and providers are having to answer for a growing number of bad actors. Foothills Compassionate Care invites the public to an interactive town hall that will include: An update on national efforts to combat hospice fraud, insights from Clinical Care Manager Kellie Bolle, MSN, RN, CHPN, following her advocacy meetings in Washington, D.C., information about how to identify a reputable hospice provider, a discussion of hospice, palliative care, and the Medicare hospice benefit, and an open question-and-answer session with hospice professionals. Free and open to the public. [On Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Go to this article for their RSVP to the public.]

The ASCENT Consortium - Two Requests for Applications are now open!
ASCENT Consortium press release; 7/22/26
The ASCENT Consortium is pleased to announce two Requests for Applications (RFA) are now open, with letters of intent due 8/10/26:

• Research Scholar Award: ASCENT will fund up to 13 junior faculty looking to establish themselves as independent investigators in palliative care research.
• Pilot and Exploratory Studies Award: ASCENT will fund up to 12 early-career investigators transitioning from a K to an R award and mid-career researchers exploring new directions.

There are moments that remind you just how powerful music can be. 
YouTube; by Navacare; 6/27/26
There are moments that remind you just how powerful music can be. Recently, I had the privilege of attending a ceremony honoring a veteran for his service to our country. During the ceremony, Grace from AccentCare Hospice sang "I Will Always Love You." It was beautiful. It was moving. And if I'm being honest, it brought a few tears to my eyes. Not only because we were honoring someone who had given so much, but because it was also my dad's favorite song. Music has a remarkable way of connecting us to people, memories, and emotions that words alone often can't reach. For many older adults, especially those living with dementia or memory loss, music can spark recognition, comfort, and moments of connection that feel truly extraordinary. [Watch the video to the end, to hear the dad's response.]

Opened floodgates: Why current M&A pressures favor home-based care consolidators 
Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 7/28/26 
High interest rates have slowed and complicated home-based care M&A, but they may also be creating a favorable buying opportunity for investors willing to enter the market now.  Buyers able to absorb higher borrowing costs may find a slower and more complex dealmaking landscape — one where compliance has become a critical screening tool, particularly in Medicaid-funded care, according to experts speaking at Home Health Care News’ Capital+Strategy conference in March. At the same time, speakers pointed to opportunities to build regional platforms through smaller acquisitions and to capitalize on potential long-term upside in skilled home health. ... While eyeing an attractive future for home-based care investment, buyers have to keep the heightened focus on fraud, waste and abuse in mind when shopping for a potential home-based care provider.

BREAKING NEWS: Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements 
Federal Register; An unpublished Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 08/03/2026 
This document is unpublished. It is scheduled to be published on 08/03/2026. Once it is published it will be available on this [linked Federal Register] page in an official form. Until then, you can download the unpublished PDF version. ... Comment: Numerous commenters, including national associations, State hospice associations, large health systems, and individual providers, expressed strong concerns that the proposed 2.4 percent FY 2027 hospice payment update is insufficient to keep pace with the actual cost of delivering high-quality hospice care.  
[The following tables are from this "unpublished document" from the Federal Register, "scheduled to be published on 08/03/2026."]

Hard truth: If you wait until you feel better to start living, you might be waiting forever. Go live your life. Do it sad. Do it anxious. Do it uncertain. Because healing doesn't always come before the experience. Sometimes, the experience is what heals you. ~Caroline Leaf