Hospice of the Bluegrass Involved in Business Deals

The non-profit Hospice of the Bluegrass has spent more than $1.82 million since 2005 on business deals with several of its board members and the spouses of its executives. Ethics experts say such insider deals are legal, but because they create potential conflicts of interest, they should be handled carefully, if done at all. The Lexington-based Hospice provides care for hundreds of terminally ill patients and their families in a 32-county region. Its 2010 income of $66.6 million came from public and private sources, including Medicare and charitable donations.