Literature Review

Unity Hospice and Palliative Care awarded five-year General In-Patient Care contract with UTMB HealthPress release, 1/11/24Unity Hospice and Palliative Care, a leader in providing end-of-life care, announced today that it has entered a five-year agreement with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Health. Unity will provide general in-patient (GIP) care for all four hospitals within the Health System: Angleton, Clear Lake, League City, and Galveston Campus Hospitals.

Taking the 'polar' plunge - Fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam CountySequim Gazette, by Keith Thorpe; 1/10/24Participants in the New Year’s Day polar bear dip in Port Angeles braved the chilly water of Port Angeles Harbor at Hollywood Beach on Jan. 1. More than 100 dippers took part in the annual ritual, which served as a fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.

PeaceHealth nurses mull a strike amid wage, workload pressuresHospice News, by Holly Vossel; 1/9/24Nurses at PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Home Care Services have voted to authorize a strike, citing low wages and staffing strains.PeaceHealth operates two hospice locations in Oregon, along with six others in Alaska and Washington state.

Community Foundation of Henderson announces grant winnersWSON AM & FM; 1/8/24St. Anthony’s Hospice received $15,000 to help sustain and grow its goal of increasing use of its palliative care program in the community which is currently not covered by Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement in the home setting. The benefit comes from patients choosing Hospice earlier in their terminal care and improving quality of life for the patient and families.

Lincoln County’s man and woman of the year namedLake Norman Media Group, by Michelle T. Bernard; 1/10/24... At one time, there were no hospice services in Lincoln County. [Normand] Lavasseur and a few other individuals got together and in 1987 got a license to operate Hospice and Palliative Care of Lincoln County. “I was on the board of directors and they said they needed a male nurse,” he said. “I told them I could do that and went to community college and got my CNA 1 and CNA 2. This was back when I was still working at Mohican Mill in Maiden. On my lunch hour I used to take off and go and give a bath or some other service to someone who needed it. I worked as a volunteer for hospice for 37 years.”

Second-hand sales turn into second-chance grantsThe Daily Yonder - Keep It Rural, by Bill Bishop; 1/9/24A non-profit store in La Grange, Texas, called Second Chance Emporium created a "virtuous circle" of community-donated items that turn into grants that support that and other communities. ... The year Second Chance has made $583,000 in grants. ... The community has a stake in the store. For example, the local hospice organization even hosts an annual fashion show fundraiser with people decked out in things they picked up at Second Chance. 

Hudson Valley Hospice opens new inpatient centerHospice News, by Holly Vossel; 1/4/24New York-based Hudson Valley Hospice has opened a new inpatient facility that will serve two counties in its home state.

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Hospice care advocate aims to increase awareness, reduce stigma surrounding industryMcKnights Home Care, by Foster Stubbs; 1/8/24“I think we all know that the population over age 65 in the United States is growing at a rapid pace,” Thomson, DO and chief medical officer of Four Seasons, a nonprofit hospice and palliative care provider serving 13 western North Carolina counties, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. ... However, Thomson understands that the scrutiny hospice care can receive may drive families away from considering it as an option. She has used her position on the public policy committee at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine to help create effective vetting and regulatory procedures for the hospice industry. She believes more thorough regulation will ensure fewer bad actors. 

How hospice, behavioral health can team up for caregiver supportHospice News, by Holly Vossel; 1/6/24“We are officially living in that sandwich generation where so many of us actually are caregivers, taking care of our children, sometimes even the parent is now taking care of two generations, ..."

Gentle endings: Lessons learned in a hospice for those without a homeDeseretNews, by Eliza Anderson; 1/3/24 Jillian Olmsted was intrigued by a news story in 2015 about attempts to open a small residential hospice for the homeless in Salt Lake City, where she lives. The INN Between would offer a home for people who were unsheltered and dying so they could be fed and cared for, in beds and out of the cold. But she was also floored by the hue and cry of neighbors who didn’t want them around — even though they were terribly medically frail. Her dad was fighting cancer, and she had just helped care for her mom and stepfather, who died a month apart. Both “had insurance and a nice home and family to take care of them.” Why begrudge someone shelter, care and comfort in such dire circumstances? 

NY healthcare orgs collab to deliver value-based hospice, palliative careTechTarget, by Victoria Bailey; 1/3/24Bassett Healthcare Network, a New York-based health system, has partnered with Helios Care to provide patients with value-based hospice and palliative care. ... Together, the two organizations will create an electronically driven referral process that will promote value-based contracting for hospice and palliative care services and establish a comprehensive palliative care and hospice service to treat patients in the hospital, in outpatient settings, and at home. In addition, the partnership will prioritize developing a transitional care program to provide in-home care for patients with serious illnesses, chronic diseases, and end-of-life needs.