At NEHCC 2026: Burnout, Culture, and the Future of Care at Home

Conference discussions in Manchester focused on burnout, leadership culture, workforce sustainability, and the future of care at home.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 2026 New England Home Care & Hospice Conference & Trade Show in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The 2026 New England Home Care & Hospice Conference & Trade Show concluded Wednesday in Manchester, New Hampshire after three days of candid conversations about burnout, leadership, workforce strain, and the future of care at home.

Across breakout sessions, networking events, and discussions on the trade show floor, one message surfaced repeatedly: healthcare organizations cannot build sustainable systems without first supporting sustainable people.

During Monday’s masterclass, Dr. Susan Lovelle described burnout as the predictable strain created when workforce shortages, reimbursement pressure, and emotional overload collide at once. Her presentation focused on practical organizational strategies rather than idealized solutions.

“You don’t need a perfect wellness plan. You need a survivable one.”

That theme carried throughout the conference.

Keynote speaker Yonason Goldson delivered one of the most talked-about sessions of the week with a presentation centered on ethics and organizational culture. Goldson argued that trust is shaped less by written policy and more by repeated daily decisions made by leaders and teams.

“Where ethics leads, culture follows.”

Workforce-focused sessions reinforced similar concerns through operational and survey data, with presenters emphasizing flexibility, mentorship, manageable documentation requirements, and leadership transparency as increasingly central to recruitment and retention efforts.

By the final afternoon of the conference, conversations had shifted beyond operational challenges toward a broader discussion about leadership itself.

Closing keynote speaker Laura Berman Fortgang focused on how leaders communicate and respond under pressure. Her presentation, The Power of Positive Leadership, encouraged attendees to stop listening only for problems and instead listen for the person behind them.

The message resonated in a room filled with agency leaders navigating exhaustion, turnover, financial uncertainty, and growing demand for care at home services.

Throughout the week, attendees repeatedly returned to the same conclusion: the future of home care and hospice depends not only on policy reform and operational efficiency, but on building cultures where caregivers and leaders can realistically sustain the work.

We are grateful to our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, and attendees for making NEHCC 2026 such a meaningful event.

The conference returns May 3–5, 2027 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

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