A Decade of Care: How a $25M Bet is Reshaping Palliative Leadership

PORTLAND, Ore. – March 03, 2026

A newly released evaluation confirms that a decade-long, $25 million philanthropic investment has successfully cultivated a new generation of leaders in palliative care, a field grappling with critical workforce shortages and widespread misunderstanding. The Cambia Health Foundation today announced the results of a comprehensive review of its Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program, a landmark initiative designed to transform care for people facing serious illness.

The evaluation, conducted by the independent firm Future Work Design, validates the program's ambitious goals. Launched in 2014, the program identified and supported 108 scholars—a diverse group of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other specialists—providing each with a two-year, $180,000 grant and dedicated mentorship. The findings reveal a resounding success, with 91% of participants agreeing the program created leaders capable of transforming care delivery and 84% of scholars reporting their projects had a significant impact on patients.

The Vision Behind the Investment

At its core, the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program was a strategic response to a fundamental challenge in American healthcare. Palliative care, which focuses on improving quality of life for patients and families by providing relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness, has long been a vital but underfunded specialty.

“I've witnessed how transformative palliative care can be—easing pain, improving quality of life and helping patients and loved ones navigate difficult journeys,” said Peggy Maguire, president of Cambia Health Foundation, in the announcement. “Unfortunately, palliative care as a specialty is under-resourced and misunderstood, which limits access for people and families who could truly benefit from it. We saw an opportunity to change this through purposeful funding, mentorship and collaboration.”

The program was designed not just to fund innovative projects but to build a national community of interdisciplinary leaders. By providing protected time and resources, the foundation enabled these emerging leaders to develop their skills, conduct groundbreaking work, and build networks that would amplify their impact far beyond their individual institutions. This long-term vision of investing in people, not just projects, was a deliberate departure from more traditional, short-term grant-making.

A Crisis in Compassionate Care

The significance of the Sojourns program is magnified by the immense and growing need for palliative care across the United States. An estimated 13 million Americans are living with a serious illness, yet access to specialized care that could alleviate their suffering remains profoundly unequal. While most large, urban hospitals have palliative care teams, access plummets in other settings.

Current data reveals a stark reality: only about a third of rural hospitals and less than half of for-profit hospitals offer any kind of palliative care service. This leaves vast geographic and demographic swathes of the country underserved. Experts note that over 90% of board-certified palliative care physicians and nurse practitioners are located in urban areas, creating "care deserts" for the more than one in five older Americans living in rural communities.

Compounding the access issue is a severe and worsening workforce shortage. Projections indicate a potential deficit of thousands of palliative care physicians by 2040, a gap that current training programs cannot fill. The existing workforce faces immense pressure, with high rates of burnout reported among clinicians. This supply-demand mismatch threatens to undermine the quality of care for an aging population with increasingly complex health needs, making leadership development more critical than ever.

Seeds of Change: The Scholars' Impact

The evaluation of the Sojourns program provides powerful evidence that targeted investment in leadership can directly address these systemic challenges. The 108 scholars have become catalysts for change, driving innovation from within the healthcare system. Their projects demonstrate the breadth and creativity needed to reshape patient care.

For example, projects undertaken by scholars have included:
* Developing faith-centered advance care planning programs within African American churches, aiming to address cultural and spiritual needs in end-of-life discussions.
* Integrating a narrative-based approach to goals-of-care conversations in the intensive care unit (ICU), helping clinicians better understand and honor patient wishes.
* Establishing telehealth programs to provide rapid access to palliative care consultations for patients in remote or underserved areas.

The diversity of the scholars themselves—spanning professions from pharmacy and psychology to communications and health system administration—has been a key strength. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the holistic nature of palliative care, which requires a team to address a patient's physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. The evaluation noted that while standardized outcomes were difficult to compare across such unique projects, it found clear evidence of "systems change through scholar collaboration." Together, these leaders are shaping new standards of practice, informing public policy, and professionalizing a field that is essential to humane healthcare.

A Model for Long-Term Philanthropy

The success of the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program offers a compelling model for how philanthropy can drive meaningful, lasting change in healthcare. By committing to a 10-year strategy, the Cambia Health Foundation enabled a level of growth, collaboration, and systemic influence that a series of disconnected, short-term grants could never achieve. This sustained investment has not only produced 108 highly skilled leaders but has also built a durable network that will continue to innovate and advocate for years to come.

This initiative was part of the foundation's larger, long-term focus on improving care for those with serious illness, which has seen over $65 million invested in palliative care since 2007. While the foundation's strategic focus has since broadened to include whole-person health and expanding access to behavioral care, the lessons from the Sojourns program remain central to its mission. The emphasis on strengthening the healthcare workforce and ensuring equitable access to care are threads that connect its past successes to its future goals.

The evaluation also serves as a call to action, identifying critical priorities for the future. The work is far from over. Expanding palliative care into new settings like community clinics, addressing persistent racial and economic disparities, advancing research, and continuing to build the workforce are all urgent needs. As Peggy Maguire noted, the hope is that the program's insights will inspire a continued commitment from others to support the next generation who will carry this essential work forward. The dedication shown by the Sojourns Scholars provides a powerful testament to the impact of investing in leaders to create a more person-focused and compassionate health care system for all.