NEW! Job Board for Hospice & Palliative Care Readers
Hospice & Palliative Care Today; 7/24/25 
Welcome to our new Job Board with postings by you for hospice and palliative care roles!
For you--and anyone--to explore Job Postings:

• Click on the menu tab on our website. Additionally, this will be a regular link in each day's newsletter.

For you to post a job:

• Click on the green "Post a Job" button on the Job Board page (or below). 
• Cost is $300 / month / position.
• Disclaimer: The organization posting the position assumes full responsibility for the accuracy, legality, and compliance of the job listing. We require a PDF document with position details and link to it. 
  
  

VNA Golf-A-Thon fundraising drivers give it their best shots 
Vero News, Vero Beach, FL; by Stephanie LaBaff; 7/24/25 
Generosity was in full swing during the 35th annual VNA & Hospice Foundation Golf-A-Thon, held this year at the Vero Beach Country Club, where pros representing 13 local clubs spent a full day on the course playing more than 100 holes of golf. “It’s a beautiful day here at the Vero Beach Country Club, and I really want to thank everybody who participated today,” said Carol Kanarek, VNA & Hospice Foundation board chair, thanking the professional golfers, volunteers and staff of the VNA and the VBCC. “This has been a year of events for the VNA,” said Kanarek, referencing the VNA’s 50th anniversary, the 35th anniversary of the Golf-A-Thon and the 25th anniversary of the Hospice House. ... Co-chairs Nancy Edmiston and Karen Formont scored a perfect game with the assistance of their team, raising more than $484,000 in critical funding for VNA & Hospice Foundation programs and services. 
Editor's Note: Congratulations VNA & Hospice Foundation on this "more than $484,000" raised, and your 50th, 35th, and 25th anniversaries!

Following Hugh Chatham deal, county takes control of hospice 
The Daily Reflector, Greenville, NC; by Ryan Kelly; 7/23/25 
A special meeting of the Northern Hospital District was called as part of Monday night's regular meeting of the Surry County Board of Commissioners. As there has been ongoing effort to find a suitable partner, investor, or buyer of the hospital, some hoped the special meeting may address the matter; that was not the case. The board did, however, unanimously approve a resolution allowing the Northern Hospital District, which is comprised of the Surry County Board of Commissioners, to exercise its contractual right to become the sole owner of Hospice of Surry County, Inc., which operates as Mountain Valley Hospice. This action ended a 20-year partnership with Hugh Chatham Health and was triggered by a change in control at the Elkin-based hospital. ... "Northern wishes to timely exercise its contractual right to become the sole member of Hospice due to the change of control of Hugh Chatham," the resolution states.

Burnett Center restores labyrinth as community healing space 
Southern Maryland News, LaPlata, MD; by Aamaly Hossain; 7/21/25 
On a wide stretch of land, nestled between Barbara Burnett’s two homes and a weathered barn, stands the Burnett Center for Hope and Healing — and beyond it, is its labyrinth. Once known as Calvert Hospice, the center is now part of the Hospice of the Chesapeake and transformed from a patient-filled facility into a community space centered solely on healing. “We’ve reimagined it into a center for everyone in the community experiencing any kind of loss, grief, illness — whatever they need to heal,” Heather Conner, volunteer service manager with Hospice of the Chesapeake, said.

Prairie Doc Perspective: Navigating spiritual pain and grief 
Rawlins Times - Prairie Doc Perspective, Rawlins, WY; by Rev. Kari Sansgaard, Avera Hospice; 7/23/25 
After nearly 20 years of parish ministry, I entered the world of health care, which, I learned, abounds in acronyms. My first clue was in chaplaincy training, known as CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), the required education for most hospital and hospice chaplains. CNA, SoB (Shortness of Breath), PRN, HoH (Hard of Hearing), and a myriad of other acronyms are now part of my own vernacular. QoL (Quality of Life) is the big one in hospice, sometimes called “comfort care.” When quantity of life becomes diminished, it’s all about quality. ... In hospice, when death is impending, spiritual pain can lead us to ponder existential questions, such as the following:

Humana renews challenge to downgrade of US Medicare 'star' ratings 
Reuters; by Daniel Wiessner; 7/21/25 
Humana ... filed a new lawsuit over the U.S. government's reduction in the health insurer's star ratings for government-backed Medicare plans, after an earlier challenge was dismissed on technical grounds. Humana, in the lawsuit in Fort Worth, Texas, federal court, says the lower ratings could cause it to lose customers and potentially billions of dollars in bonus payments from the government, which would have been used to reduce premiums and increase benefits for its members. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth dismissed those claims last week, finding Humana had failed to exhaust all of its out-of-court options to challenge the ratings. In the new lawsuit, Humana says it has in recent months exhausted an administrative appeals process, giving the insurer standing to sue. 

CMS plans hiring spree ahead of new payment models 
Becker's Hospital Review; by Alan Condon; 7/22/25 
The CMS Innovation Center plans to hire a string of new employees as it plans to roll out several new payment models. The move comes four months after HHS, CMS’ parent department, cut about 5% of the agency’s workforce, Politico reported July 21. Four things to know:

1. CMS laid off about 300 employees earlier this year as part of a broad HHS restructuring. The overhaul, part of the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, aimed to reduce the department’s headcount from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
2. The restructuring included early retirement and buyout incentives and affected employees across HHS, including the FDA, CDC, National Institutes of Health and CMS.
3. The CMS Innovation Center was not directly affected by the layoffs and is now hiring. Current and former CMS workers told Politico the center plans to fill about 100 positions, focusing on candidates with expertise in economics, clinical services and data.
4. The Innovation Center, established under the ACA in 2010, has tested about 50 payment models aimed at improving preventive care, according to the report. The hiring spree will occur in phases and aims to support the development of new payment models, including those centered on chronic disease prevention.

Andwell Health Partners CEO: Medicare Advantage becoming  ‘failed policy,’ jeopardizes home health access
Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 7/21/25 
The rise of Medicare Advantage (MA) has reshaped the home-based care landscape, but it’s putting home health providers in precarious positions while increasingly failing to deliver for beneficiaries. That’s according to the leader of Lewiston, Maine-based nonprofit provider Andwell Health Partners, which has significantly changed the way it cares for patients, including adjusting care plans, to adjust to increased penetration of MA. Andwell Health Partners’ CEO Ken Albert said MA is rapidly becoming a “failed policy,” on a recent episode of Home Health Care News’ Disrupt podcast. Formerly known as Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice, Andwell Health Partners offers home health care, palliative care, hospice services and a slew of other services across Maine. Albert sat down with HHCN to discuss how the nonprofit will survive industry headwinds, the new service lines and innovations he has plotted for the organization, the future of Medicare Advantage and how nonprofit providers have to innovate to survive. 

Where UnitedHealthcare, Humana rule the Medicare Advantage market 
Modern Healthcare; by Tim Broderick; 7/22/25 
Medicare Advantage competition was meager in 97% of counties last year, where beneficiaries could choose among just a handful of dominant insurers. The health policy research institution KFF analyzed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data on the plans available across the U.S. and Puerto Rico in 2024. The findings indicate that Medicare enrollees have few options in most areas. Market share was “highly concentrated” in 79% of counties and “very highly concentrated” in another 18%, KFF found, using metrics similar to those the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department employ to measure competitiveness. ... Ninety-three percent of Medicare-eligible people lived in “highly concentrated” or “very highly concentrated” counties. ... [Click here and scroll down for the national map with] the level of Medicare Advantage market concentration for each county and the market share for each county's top insurer.

[Korea] Earlier palliative cancer care cuts end-of-life ED visits 
Medscape; ed. by Gargi Mukherjee; 7/23/25 
A recent retrospective study found that earlier outpatient palliative care referrals for patients with advanced cancer were associated with a small increase in overall emergency department (ED) visits but significantly fewer end-of-life ED visits and improved advance care planning. ... A substantial proportion of patients with advanced cancer visited the ED, including during the final month of life. Earlier palliative care referrals were associated with fewer end-of-life ED visits, “emphasizing the importance of timely integration of [palliative care] to reduce unnecessary interventions and ensure goal-concordant care,” the authors wrote. The researchers also noted that the findings underscore the need for structured advance care planning discussions across care settings to enhance the quality of end-of-life care.

Social Media Watch 7/25/25

• Kimberly Olson, Chief Compliance Officer at St. Croix Hospice, posted about a patient granted one final wish - a swim.
• Drew Mihalyo, entrepreneur, PharmD, investor, noted "New research reveals a modest but meaningful reduction in Alzheimer’s risk among breast cancer survivors — especially those who received radiation therapy."

• Judi Lund Person, MPH, CHC, Principal, LundPerson & Associates, LLC, noted "I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: Compliance Certification Board (CCB), SCCE & HCCA from Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC)!" Congratulations Judi!

Make sure your worst enemy doesn't live between your two ears. ~ Laird Hamilton