Taking a Closer Look at the Intersection of Heart Disease and Hospice Care

Heart disease is the world's number one killer - and hospice is habitually failing those who suffer from it.

Read: Right to Die Campaign Gains in Popularity in the US and Globally

Campaigns to let doctors help the suffering and terminally ill to die are gathering momentum across the West.

What do you think about doctor assisted dying? Compare your views to the Ipsos MORI results commissioned by the Economist in June 2015.

Read: Why End of life discussions are important, and how the new Medicare guidelines can help

Felice J. Freyer writes about how the new guidelines may boost discussions on end of life care. 

Listen: Remembering the Roots of Hospice: An Interview with Cicely Saunders

Medical Sociology Professor David Clark recorded his last interview with Dame Cecily Saunders in March 2005, just a few months before she died. He recently wrote an article about her work to end human suffering and is in the process of writing a biography about her.

Read: Is Regionalization the Future for Facilities?

Four rural hospitals in northern NH have announced they are forming a new partnership. CEOs Russell Keene of Androscoggin Valley Hospital, Warren West of Littleton Regional Healthcare, Peter Gosline of Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital and Scott Howe of Weeks Medical Center have announced that they will form a nonprofit organization known as North Country Healthcare, expected to be in place in early 2016.

Keene said what is unique is that the hospitals are aligning and combining with each other, not a much larger third party.

Gosline said the formation of North Country Healthcare would preserve "access to high-quality, personal health care for people in the North Country," while positioning the four member hospitals "to meet future challenges."

Expected benefits include increased purchasing power and financial stability. While the expectation is that all the hospitals will offer the same high standard of care, specialized services may be limited to one or two facilities. Each hospital is committed to participate for three years, after which it may exercise an exit clause.

State Sen. Jeff Woodburn, D-Dalton, hailed the announcement about North Country Healthcare, and praised the CEOs for representing "a shining example of how to do regionalization."

Read: Medicare to Reimburse for End of Life Discussions

The NY Times features a comprehensive article on Medicare's plans to reimburse doctors for end of life discussions.

Attend: The Wake Up to Dying Project

The Wake up to Dying Project,  an awareness-building campaign that encourages people to talk about death and dying, is in Burlington, Vermont from 16-19 July.

Visitors can:

• listen to audio stories about death, dying and life,
• add your bucket list goals to our massive chalkboard,
• learn about and take away end-of-life resources,
• attend a workshop or community discussion with local leaders in end-of-life care, and
• bring what you learn and experience back to their home and community.

All events are free and open to the public.