SAN FRANCISCO — Burnout among hospice and palliative care workers is not just a staffing problem — it is directly harming patients and increasing costs for payers, according to Vynca CEO Dr. Darren Schulte.
“Burnout can be devastating to hospice workers, but it also impacts employers, payers and patients,” Schulte said in an interview published Sunday by Hospice News.
Schulte, who took over as CEO of the California-based advance care planning technology platform and palliative care provider in June 2023, pointed to a cycle in which workforce exhaustion leads to higher turnover, thinner staffing, and ultimately worse clinical outcomes for seriously ill patients and their families.
A 62% Burnout Rate With No Signs of Slowing
The problem is well documented but persistently unresolved. Research has found that 62% of hospice and palliative care clinicians experience burnout, with emotional exhaustion as the primary driver. In-patient hospice workers face a 30% turnover rate, while home care workers see turnover as high as 60%.
Contributing factors include working in smaller organizations, longer hours, being younger than 50, and weekend shifts. Burnout is the second leading reason clinicians leave the field, behind only retirement.
The resulting staffing gaps create what researchers describe as a vicious cycle: inadequate staffing degrades care quality, which increases stress on remaining workers, which drives further attrition.
Data Shows What Stable Teams Can Achieve
Schulte’s argument draws on Vynca’s own outcomes data, which illustrate the clinical difference that adequately staffed, supported care teams can produce. The company reports a 43% reduction in emergency department visits and a 52% reduction in inpatient hospital admissions among patients in its programs.
Patients served by Vynca also experience hospice stays averaging 53 days, compared to a national average of 17 days — suggesting earlier referrals and more sustained end-of-life support. The company’s advance care planning completion rate stands at 79%, roughly triple the national average of approximately 28%.
Typical patient visits run 45 minutes to one hour, significantly longer than many standard palliative consultations.
Payer Implications
Schulte framed the burnout crisis as a financial concern for health plans as well, citing the concept of “network adequacy” — ensuring sufficient providers are available to meet patient demand. When burnout drives experienced clinicians out of the workforce, payers face both rising acute care costs from avoidable emergency department visits and a shrinking pool of qualified palliative and hospice providers.
“Until we have a payer solution for this, it’s going to be challenging,” Schulte has previously noted regarding the broader financial sustainability of palliative care programs.
Vynca, which acquired California-based Resolution Care in 2021, has positioned its technology platform as one approach to reducing administrative burden on clinical staff — a frequently cited contributor to burnout across healthcare.
Why This Matters for Home Care
Hospice and palliative care burnout directly affects the quality of care that patients receive at home. When experienced clinicians leave the field, families navigating end-of-life care lose access to the skilled, compassionate support that makes home-based care possible — and avoidable hospital transfers become more likely.
For families caring for loved ones at home, the staffing crisis underscores a difficult reality: the equipment and environment surrounding a patient matters more than ever when hands-on clinical time is limited. A hospital bed with proper positioning capabilities — Trendelenburg for respiratory distress, ultra-low height for fall prevention, pressure-relieving surfaces for skin integrity — can reduce the physical burden on both caregivers and the clinicians who are stretched thin.
SonderCare’s Aura Premium and Aura Platinum hospital beds are built for exactly this situation: hospital-grade functionality designed for the home, so families can provide safer, more dignified care between visits. Features like the FallSafe 10″ ultra-low platform height and full positioning suite address the same clinical concerns — fall risk, pressure injuries, respiratory support — that understaffed hospice teams are struggling to manage.
If your family is navigating hospice or palliative care at home, the right bed won’t replace a great care team — but it can make every visit more productive and every hour between visits safer. Explore SonderCare’s home hospital beds or call our care specialists to discuss which configuration fits your situation.
Sources: Hospice News, Hospice News burnout research coverage, Vynca outcomes data
Last Updated – March 16, 2026
