Message from the Chair | December 2025

It is hard to believe that the year is almost over – 2025 has flown by.  It truly has been an eventful year, and I would expect that 2026 will be no different.

The Board of Directors welcomed Soua Vang as CAHSAH’s new President and CEO on November 10th.  Soua has jumped right into her new role.  She has been participating in meetings and directing activities for CAHSAH.  The Board is excited to have her on board.  The Board is also very happy that Joe Hafkenschiel has agreed to stay on through the month of January to continue to help with Soua’s orientation and to complete projects he has started.

I am also excited to report that this fall the Board of Directors made a commitment to ensure the long-term success of CAHSAH.   In October, the Board met to start the strategic planning process for CAHSAH. The Board will continue that process by participating in a Strategic Planning Session in January. Included in that process is looking at CAHSAH’s Mission statement, Vision and Core Values.  I look forward to being able to report on the outcomes of the process in the new year.

And of course, Medicare is making more changes for Home Health and Hospice that will affect agencies in the new year. In 2025, CAHSAH provided several training sessions for the upcoming changes.  For Home Health, there are changes to the Final Rule, Home Health Value Based Purchasing and Patient Driven Grouping Models (PDGM). And there are changes to the Final Rule for hospices.  Newly introduced In 2025 is the HOPE tool for hospices and payment changes to the Conditions of Participation (COP) proposals.  CAHSAH was there in 2025 to get us all the information before-hand and will be there to help us all out on 2026.  CAHSAH has several upcoming remote and in-person educational events to keep us all informed.  

I hope everyone can relax and enjoy the end of 2025.  I do want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and Merry Christmas.  We can look forward to 2026 – it will be here before we know it.