Massachusetts-based health system Trinity Health will close its home health and hospice program in the West Springfield community in September, laying off 60 employees in the process. These services operate under the brand Trinity Health at Home. The health system recently notified the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development of the impending closure […]
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics
The legislature of Oswego County in New York state has voted to close its hospice agency within a year. The county’s hospice program is the latest casualty of the nursing shortage that has rendered a number of organizations unsustainable. Like many providers nationwide, the Oswego agency has been plagued by nurses resigning, leaving them with […]
The workforce shortage plaguing the health care sector is continuing to interfere with hospices’ ability to grow. Most recently, North Carolina-based provider Amorem has temporarily consolidated its inpatient care services to a single facility, temporarily closing its two other units. Amorem was born through the merger of Burke Hospice & Palliative Care and Caldwell Hospice […]
An Iowa hospice provider is closing its inpatient hospice house as of Dec. 31 due to the industry-wide staffing shortage. The organization will continue to provide care in patient homes, skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. The name of the organization is simply, “Hospice,” which serves Davis and Wapello Counties in the southeast portion of […]
Worsening workforce shortages have been keeping hospice leaders awake at night for several years running. Rising turnover due to the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the crisis, and some hospice providers and health systems are starting to shut down their programs or sell off their operations because they cannot recruit or retain a sufficient number of […]
While hospices have been focusing efforts to recruit, retain and rebuild their ranks during a financially choppy time, some providers are furrowing their brows over minimum wage increases in the absence of a corresponding raise to Medicare reimbursement. While federal efforts to boost the minimum wage have stagnated for the time being, action is underway […]
The hospice workforce has been dwindling even as demand for care rises. Factors such as retirement and burnout are leading some clinicians to leave the field, and the limited number of health care workers with hospice and palliative care training have made the industry an employee’s market. Becoming an employer of choice in their markets […]
The hospice mergers and acquisitions market has been burgeoning for the last several years and continues to accelerate. Hospice leads the health care sector in terms of investor interest and valuations, but providers may hit some walls if workforce shortages worsen. Among the driving forces behind this continued acceleration include demographic tailwinds, rising demand and […]
LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) has agreed to acquire Heart of Hospice from the family-owned investment firm Evening Post Industries (EPI) Group for an undisclosed amount. Heart of Hospice has a 16-location footprint across five states. Heart of Hospice will not rebrand following the acquisition. The hospice operates in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina. […]
Oregon-based Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics will close its hospice program this month due to staffing shortages. The organization indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated industry-wide workforce issues, leading to the decision to close. Many hospice providers have seen staff turnover rise during the pandemic, as have organizations in other health care settings. Slightly more […]