Literature Review

Fresno State honors three with honorary doctorates this commencement season: Nancy Hinds, founder of Hinds Hospice Fresno State News; 5/7/24Fresno State will award honorary doctorates to three individuals this year — advocate for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Robert R. Davila; Hinds Hospice founder Nancy Hinds; and Fresno arts proponent Lilia Gonzales-Chavez. ... Nancy Hinds is nationally and internationally recognized for her work with the terminally ill and as the founder of Hinds Hospice, a non-profit hospice and grief organization serving Fresno, Madera and Merced Counties. A 2021 Business Journal article said Hinds’ “name is synonymous with compassion and quality care.” Editor's Note: Read more of Nancy's life-story and profound contributions to hospice and palliative care. Congratulations Dr. Nancy Hinds!

HCA accused of withholding pay of 1,000 workersBecker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 5/6/24 HCA Healthcare faces a lawsuit alleging its Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health illegally kept pay from at least 1,000 employees, the Citizen Times reported May 6. Sharon McRee — who said she worked as a nonexempt, hourly respiratory therapist at Mission from July 2002 through its 2019 acquisition by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA before leaving in July 2022 — alleges she and approximately 1,000 or more employees "clocked in as required and performed the principal activities of their jobs," but their employer "generally did not pay them for all of their time worked," according to the lawsuit, which was accessed by Becker's.

Maddy Baloy had only 1 year to live after cancer diagnosis — and chose joy: 'Didn’t let anything defy her’ People; by Lizzie Hyman; 5/8/24 Even surrounded by loved ones in hospice care at her Florida home, Maddy Baloy craved adventure. “She kept saying, ‘I want to go outside and go swimming,’ ” her fiancé Louis Risher tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. It was how Baloy had approached each day from the time she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2023, to the end of her life on May 2, 2024. In just over one year, the 26 year old gained the admiration and support of millions who followed her journey on TikTok as she worked her way through a 19-item bucket list of skills to learn, people to meet and places to go. “Maddy did not let anything defy her,” Risher, 27, says. “She was always just about love.”

Baptist Health settles False Claims allegations for $1.5MBecker's Hospital Review; by Naomi Diaz; 5/7/24Jacksonville, FL-based Baptist Health has agreed to pay $1.5 million to address accusations of breaching the False Claims Act. The health system allegedly prompted its subsidiaries to provide discounts up to 50% or more to patients, aiming to incentivize them to acquire or recommend Baptist Health services covered by federal healthcare programs, according to a May 6 Justice Department news release. ... The Anti-Kickback Statute states that individuals in federal healthcare programs cannot get paid for sending others to receive healthcare for which the government pays. 

‘Take Me Out Feet First’ docuseries about end of life options debuts on Amazon Prime Video Variety; by Addie Morfoot; 5/7/24 In “Take Me Out Feet First,” a new docuseries now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, director Serene Meshel-Dillman chronicles people’s right to choose medical aid in dying. The six-part docuseries, made in partnership with the nonprofit advocacy organization Compassion & Choices, profiles 25 terminally ill people, their families, and friends, as well as experts in the medical field who advocate for MAID. The series chronicles people who have taken control of how their final days will play out. While some live in states where medical aid in dying is legal, some do not.

Exploring grief: Cleveland Institute of Art student copes with loss through her paintings FreshWater, Cleveland, OH; by Karin Connelly Rice; 5/8/24 Maddie Cantrell, 21, and a painting major at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA), grew up in the small town of Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina, with her grandparents, Alaine and Jim Sosebee, living just around the corner. ... Now a rising senior at CIA, Cantrell has found her art to be an outlet for coping with the sudden deaths of her grandparents. The result of her effort her exhibit is, “Living with Grief,” four paintings that illustrate the experience of living with grief, at Hospice of the Western Reserve’s The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Bereavement Center, ... “My work is centered around having to grow up without [my grandparents] and making a bridge between where I exist and where they exist,” Cantrell explains of her works. “... How would I speak to them if I could? Or, how would we have a conversation, even though they're not here?” ...

Over $293k bequeathed to Valley Hospice by former Marshall County teacher The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register; by Shelley Hanson; 5/7/24; titled "Nearly $1.5M Bequeathed to Organizations by Former Marshal County Teacher" [Wheeling, WV] Nearly $1.5 million was bequeathed to four different organizations during a memorial luncheon honoring the late Harold Vitalie, a former Marshall County educator who died in 2023. ... Valley Hospice, the Ohio County Public Library and Marshall County Public Library each received $293,531. The John Marshall High School Scholarship Fund received $587,063. ... Jennifer Taylor of Valley Hospice described the gift of money as “transformational” for Valley Hospice. Vitalie’s mother was taken care of by Valley Hospice before she died.

Wide-ranging health care bill gets final approval from CT House CT Mirror - Connecticut's Nonprofit Journalism; by Jenna Carlesso; 5/6/24The House gave final passage Monday to a wide-ranging health care bill that would add protections for home care workers, boost preparedness for cyberattacks at medical facilities and establish new regulations for the state’s health information exchange, among other reforms. ... The sections on additional protections for home care workers were prompted by the murder of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, who was killed in October while working at a halfway house in Willimantic. ... The bill requires home health aide agencies to collect certain client information upon intake and make it available to any employee assigned to the client. Information includes a history of violence against health care workers, domestic abuse, substance use, psychiatric history, any listing on a sex offender registry, the crime rate of the municipality the person lives in, and whether there are any weapons or safety hazards in the home. [Click on the title's link for more important information about this bill's safety measures.]

6 lessons I learned from inheriting a parent’s house Bankrate; by Linda Bell; 5/3/24 Inheriting a house is a bittersweet, overwhelming experience. I remember receiving the deed that transferred ownership of my mother’s home to me and my siblings. I felt a whirlwind of emotions: sadness that my mother was gone, relief that the complicated process was over and trepidation for the enormous responsibilities that lay ahead. Along with those feelings was the compelling need to honor her legacy. Here are six lessons I learned from inheriting my mother’s house. ...

27 hospitals, health systems cutting jobs Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Kelly Gooch; updated 5/3/24A number of hospitals and health systems are reducing their workforces or jobs due to financial and operational challenges. Below are workforce reduction efforts or job eliminations announced this year. ...

Medicaid disenrollments higher than expected: Report Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 5/2/24 The number of people disenrolled from Medicaid through the redeterminations process has surpassed original estimates from the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to a May 2 report, as of November 2023, nearly 9 million people had been disenrolled from Medicaid. The figure came out to 60.5% of the foundation's original estimate of 14.8 million people losing coverage, with several months remaining in the redetermination process. 

Palliative patients can die peacefully at home with paramedic support, claims proposed frameworkRiotack - Australia; by James Day; 5/6/24A proposed national framework suggests paramedics could help ease pressure on emergency departments by supporting palliative care patients who wish to die at home. Published in the leading international peer reviewed journal Palliative Medicine, the framework seeks to embed palliative care into paramedics’ core business and reduce needless transports to hospital. ... Lead author and trained paramedic Dr. Madeleine Juhrmann developed the framework in consultation with paramedics, palliative care doctors, GPs, carers with lived experience and others. The expert group – representing six countries and all the states of Australia – agreed on the framework’s 32 service changes to standardise best practice for paramedics delivering palliative care in community-based settings.Pair this with a USA article in today's newsletter, "Stranded in the ER, seniors await hospital care and suffer avoidable harm." 

Highlighting Nurses Week: Best, worst states for nurses in 2024 Becker's Hospital Review; by Erica Carbajal; 4/30/24 WalletHub has deemed Washington the best state for nurses to practice in 2024 — a recognition based on an analysis of earnings, job growth and working conditions. For the annual ranking, the financial services company compared 50 states across two key dimensions: opportunity and competition, and work environment. Twenty metrics were grouped into those two dimensions, ... Here are the 10 best and worst states for nurses in 2024, per the ranking:  ...