VITAS Healthcare Strengthens Executive Team with Key Promotions in Hospice Operations, HME Department

VITAS Healthcare, one of the largest providers of hospice and palliative care services in the U.S., has announced the promotion of several executives to key positions within its leadership team. Announced Tuesday, the promotions bump Kathleen Coronado, Anthony Cosma, Mario De La Rosa and Angela Hamrick up to vice president roles at VITAS. Broadly, the […]

PeaceHealth Hospice Nurses Move Forward with Strike

Hospice and home health nurses at PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Home Care Services have announced an impending strike following failed attempts to reach wage agreements in negotiations with the organization. Home care and hospice nurses at PeaceHealth have given notice that the strike will launch on Feb. 1 and end on Feb. 14. Roughly 90 of […]

PeaceHealth Nurses Mull a Strike Amid Wage, Workload Pressures

Nurses 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. Roughly 90 of its home health and hospice registered nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) recently voted […]

Hospice, Home Health Providers ‘Squeezing Turnips’ Competing for Clinical Staff

Hospice and home health care providers’ recruitment and retention strategies have narrowed their focus on workers’ key priorities, with organizational culture among the heaviest hitters on their lists. Amid workforce shortages, hospice and home health providers are often at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with other health care organizations that can have greater […]

Creative Role Development, Organizational Culture Keys to Battling 2024’s Staffing Headwinds

The worst of the staffing challenges is far from over for embattled hospice providers seeking fruitful recruitment and retention strategies in 2024. Operators will continue to reckon with clinical capacity strains next year as hospices contend with rising demand from a swelling aging population, according to Nick Westfall, CEO of VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of […]

Hospice Clinician Wages Rising at Slower Rate; Turnover Falling

Wages for hospice clinicians continue to go up amid widespread staff shortages, but they grew at a slower rate in 2023 compared to the prior year. The national average hourly rate for Hospice registered nurses rose 4.58% in 2023, down from a 5.95% increase in 2022, according to a new report by the Hospital & […]

Hospice Providers Developing New Strategies for Recruitment, Retention

Having a solid understanding of worker priorities will give hospices an advantage in hunting for new recruits as workforce shortages continue. Hospices are entering a “new normal,” and many are reshaping their recruitment and retention strategies, according to Lynne Sexten, president and CEO of Agrace Hospice & Supportive Care. Enduring the past two years of […]

Hospices Leverage Technology to Improve Patient, Employee Satisfaction, Reduce Turnover 

With burnout as a major cause of turnover, hospices are applying technology to take some of the pressure off of staff in hopes of boosting retention. A frequent goal is reducing the amount of time spent on documentation. Though complete and accurate documentation is essential to regulatory compliance, patient safety and securing payment, the sheer […]

Partners In Care to Launch Clinician Burnout Prevention Program

Oregon-based Partners In Care is developing a program aimed at increasing the well-being of its hospice and home health clinical workforce and minimizing the impacts of burnout. The hospice and palliative care provider recently received a $50,000 grant from the Oregon Center for Nursing to support the program’s launch, which is dubbed Care for the […]