Hispanic Heritage Month 2026: resources for hospice and palliative care 
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy Berger; 9/25/26
Unidos, Somos Más: Together, We Are More 
National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15) honors generations of Hispanic Americans who have enriched our nation. This year's theme, "Unidos, Somos Más" (Together, We Are More), fits hospice and palliative care well: at its best, our care is shared work among patients, families, and interdisciplinary teams. Many Hispanic and Latino families bring deep faith, family-centered decision-making, and strong traditions of caregiving. ... The resources below are for leaders and for everyone on the team, wherever you serve. ...

CMS to update Hospice CoPs 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/25/26 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun the process of revising the hospice Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for the first time in 20 years. ... CMS will hold three listening sessions with stakeholders to discuss and gather feedback on the CoPs and what they may change. The first is scheduled for Oct. 6 for hospice administrators and management, and the second will take place on Oct. 7 for direct care workers. The third happens on Oct. 14 for patient caregivers and families.

Hospice industry generates $142 million in economic activity [in Puerto Rico] 
W Journal; by Newsroom; 9/24/26 
Puerto Rico’s hospice industry generates an estimated $142 million in economic activity, supports approximately 1,417 jobs and produces nearly $48 million in annual payroll, according to a new study by Estudios Técnicos Inc. (ETI). Commissioned by Grace Health Puerto Rico, the study examines the industry’s economic impact and the potential cost benefits of hospice care compared with more intensive forms of end-of-life treatment. ... “The findings demonstrate that hospice services generate not only economic benefits, but also important social benefits for patients and their families,” said Anitza Cox Marrero, director of ETI’s Social Analysis Division.

4th Annual Walk for Hospice raises over $75,000 for the Aroostook House of Comfort 
The County, Caribou, ME; 9/25/26
The Aroostook Hospice Foundation held its 4th Annual Walk for Hospice on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Caribou High School Track & Trails, bringing together over 442 participants and 31 teams and raising more than $75,000 in support of the Aroostook House of Comfort. The annual walk brings the community together to raise funds and awareness while remembering and celebrating the lives of those touched by hospice care. This year marked the largest Walk for Hospice to date. 

At the bedside: clinician grief 
Core IM; podcast by Dr. Margot Hedlin, Dr. Danai Papadatou, Dr. Tamar Schiff and Dr. Jafar Al-Mondhiry; 9/8/26
... "I can’t share his name, but I can tell you what he taught me about grief. I met this patient a few months after graduating from medical school, and by that point he was already dying. ... I grieved for this man the way I’ve grieved for many patients: I found a supply closet to cry in for a few minutes before my pager went off. But in the years since, years in which I worked at the epicenter of the COVID pandemic, worked nights at a cancer hospital, and suffered personal loss, I’ve found that grief is too large to be stuffed in a supply closet: when left unaddressed, it keeps coming back, in ways and places that I couldn’t predict."

Center for Hospice Care spotlights doula volunteer program 
GreatNews.Life, Valparaiso, IN; by Bennett Silveus; 9/25/26 
Over the years, Center for Hospice Care (CHC) has worked to provide a wide range of specialized hospice and palliative care options to members of the Northern Indiana community.  ... End-of-life doulas are trained, non-medical professionals who provide emotional, spiritual, and personal support and guidance to patients and families navigating the transitional period between life and death. ... Each CHC end-of-life doula works as a general volunteer for the non-profit, often starting off as a home visit or patient volunteer before moving to work as a doula. From there, the volunteer must take a 16-hour course and shadow a current doula to become fully trained in the practice.

Assessing palliative care screening tools for patients with cancer 
Oncology Nurse; by Vicki Moore, PhD; 9/25/26 
A total of 19 screening tools for assessing palliative care needs among patients with cancer were identified in a recent scoping review, but with variation in their applications. The findings of the review were reported in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. ... The researchers identified 37 studies that reported a total of 19 screening tools for assessing palliative care needs of patients with cancer, which the researchers grouped into 3 categories. These included universal tools, tools with cancer-specific modules, and tools specifically developed for patients with cancer. 

NIH grant advances research on palliative care at home 
Indiana University School of Nursing; by Glenda Shaw; 9/23/26 
... A new research project led by Indiana University School of Nursing assistant professor Lyndsay DeGroot, PhD, RN, aims to bring palliative care directly to patients in their homes through a telephone-based program that could make supportive care more accessible for people living with serious chronic illness. To support this work, DeGroot has received a NIH-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) five-year K23 Career Development Award totaling $916,000. The award will fund her project, “Implementing Community-Based Palliative Care for Adults with Heart Failure or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.”

BrightSpring Health targets growth through specialty pharmacy, M&A and AI 
Ticker Report - BrightSpring Health Services; by Ethan Ryder; 9/27/26 
BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) outlined its growth strategy across pharmacy and provider services at the Bernstein healthcare services conference, emphasizing specialty pharmacy expansion, home health acquisitions, technology investments and opportunities to integrate services for complex patients. ... The company divides its operations between pharmacy and provider services, with the premise that many patients require multiple services, including medications, primary care, home health, hospice and rehabilitation.

A new way to measure nursing productivity: Total labor cost per admission 
HFMA - Health Operations Management; by Sylvain Trepanier, DNP, RN, CENP and Cynthia Salisbury, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; 9/25/26
An innovative model for measuring nurse productivity better accounts for patients’ care needs and the team-based nature of nursing care. ... Leaders at Providence [a large regional health system based in Renton, Washington] decided it was important to create space for nurses to define for themselves how to deliver care most effectively in the acute care setting. Nurses were invited to deconstruct their current role and create a new model of care based on the needs of their patients, with an appropriate distribution of patient care across a collaborative team.

Recruiters say health systems must define the mandate before searching for a chief AI officer Complete AI Training; 9/25/26 
Only 6 of the top 100 health systems had a dedicated chief AI officer in 2024, though that number is now growing fast as organizations weigh hiring one or folding AI oversight into existing roles. Health systems are formalizing AI leadership as adoption accelerates, with many weighing whether to hire a dedicated chief AI officer or fold the responsibility into existing roles. ... Recruiters say the mandate must be clear before the search begins, because the pool of qualified candidates remains small and the role is still taking shape.

• Defining the role before the hire ...
• Three pipelines for AI leadership talent ...
• Internal alignment before external recruiting ...

Si puedes recordarme, siempre estaré contigo. (If you can remember me, I will be with you always.)
Isabel Allende
Honoring Hispanic Heritage Month

• For a recent, memorable song, "Remember Me", Academy Award for Best Original Song (2018), song from Disney movie Coco