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AAPA: Federal Court Delivers Major Victory for PA Students, Patients, and the Future Healthcare Workforce

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ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary relief blocking implementation of the U.S. Department of Education’s new regulatory definition of “professional degree” while litigation challenging the rule proceeds. The court found that AAPA and the PA Education Association are likely to succeed on the claim that the Department’s revised definition is contrary to law, that implementation of the rule would cause irreparable harm, and that the balance of equities and the public interest favor preliminary relief. The ruling comes six days before the rule was scheduled to take effect on July 1.

Today’s decision is an important step forward for PA students, educational programs, patients, and the healthcare workforce. By granting preliminary relief, the Court recognized that the harm caused by this rule is too significant to ignore and that PA students should not be forced to suffer its consequences while the case is being decided. Allowing the rule to go into effect on July 1 while the legal challenges on the merits proceed would cause irreparable harm to PA students, programs, the profession and the public.

In the ruling, the Court determined that the plaintiffs “have established that they are likely to succeed on their [Administrative Procedure Act] claim that the Rule’s definition of ‘professional degree’ is contrary to law, that they would suffer irreparable harm should the Rule go into effect, and that the balance of equities and the public interest are in their favor.”

Current and prospective PA students have faced months of uncertainty about their educational and financial futures, and today’s ruling provides temporary but immediate relief as the case moves forward.

This decision reflects what healthcare leaders, educators, and advocates across the country have made clear: PAs are essential healthcare professionals who provide high-quality care in every medical setting and specialty. With 500 million patient interactions each year, PAs are on the front lines of care in hospitals, clinics, and communities across the country, and millions of Americans rely on them every day, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

The broad nonpartisan outcry against this rule underscores that supporting the PA workforce should not be a political issue — it is a healthcare issue.

While today’s decision is significant/encouraging, it is only the first step. Our focus remains squarely on seeing this challenge to the PA profession through to a final resolution. Thousands of prospective PA students remain unable to make long-term decisions about their education and future careers with confidence. The uncertainty created by this rule continues to threaten the future healthcare workforce at a time when communities across the country already face growing provider shortages.

AAPA and PAEA remain confident in the merits of our case and committed to ensuring that PA students receive the higher loan limits Congress intended under the law. We will continue fighting for the students, programs, healthcare employers, and patients affected by this misguided rule.

About the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) 
AAPA is the national membership organization for all physician associates/assistants (PAs). PAs are licensed clinicians who practice medicine in every specialty and setting. Trusted, rigorously educated and trained healthcare professionals, PAs are dedicated to expanding access to care and transforming health and wellness through patient-centered, team-based medical practice. Learn more about the profession at aapa.org and engage through Facebook, LinkedIn,Instagram, and X.

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SOURCE American Academy of Physician Associates

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PestPac by WorkWave® Extends Field Capabilities with Door-to-Door Sales Integration

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Identify, quote, sign, and schedule services in as little as 3.5 minutes with a single native workflow

HOLMDEL, N.J., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WorkWave®, a leading provider of software and solutions that help mobile service companies thrive, today announced the launch of PestPac’s fully integrated Door-to-Door (D2D) sales engine, designed to improve the field sales experience by moving beyond manual data entry and fragmented workflows. The solution helps business owners support sales activity, better manage their field sales teams, and provide a more modern sales experience, while offering homeowners a professional customer experience.

In high-intensity sales environments, seconds can be the difference between a closed deal and a missed opportunity. Many pest control companies experience a “toggle tax” from switching between disconnected sales apps, paper contracts, and back-office systems. PestPac’s native D2D workflow is designed to reduce this friction, enabling representatives to identify, quote, sign, and schedule services in as little as 3.5 minutes. By staying focused on the customer rather than the technology, reps can better maintain the momentum needed to close deals efficiently.

As external pressures like rising labor and material costs threaten the bottom line, software efficiency has become the primary lever for protecting profit margins. The PestPac D2D workflow is designed to deliver immediate ROI by focusing on:

Sales Enablement and Experience: Support sales activity and enable sales reps with the best-in-class technology and insights they need to make every knock count, and succeed in the field. The native workflow improves the time-to-quote experience, allowing representatives to quickly identify, quote, sign, and schedule services, all from one single screen.System Consolidation: Support tech consolidation and reduced overhead. Because Sales Center is integrated directly into PestPac, rather than using a third-party app, it supports real-time data syncs that help reduce manual entry errors, save time, and lower overhead software costs.Actionable Intelligence: Evaluate ROI and make proactive business decisions with access to dashboards. These insights help turn field data into strategic moves that can support margins and long-term business value.

“Our mission is to provide our customers with sophisticated tools to compete effectively in their local markets,” said Kevin Kemmerer, CEO of WorkWave. “With our integrated D2D engine, we are providing actionable intelligence designed to help turn field data into decisive moves that support margins and long-term business value.”

Whether a company runs high-volume summer programs or a specialized outside sales track, PestPac helps representatives arrive at the door prepared, turning every doorstep into a potential business opportunity.

For more information on PestPac and Door-to-Door, click here.

About WorkWave:

WorkWave is on a mission to deliver innovative software and fintech solutions to the dedicated service professionals who ensure the world remains safe, clean, and beautiful. Powering millions of services every year, leading companies in lawn care, pest control, commercial cleaning, and security guarding rely on WorkWave’s comprehensive SaaS solutions, including its core offerings PestPac®, RealGreen® & TEAM Software®, to manage and grow their businesses. Backed by decades of experience, passionate teams, and an unwavering commitment to its customers, WorkWave’s vision is to empower the world’s mobile service workers to build a brighter future.

For more information, visit workwave.com.

Media Contact:
Brittany Boyle
bboyle@workwave.com

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SOURCE WorkWave

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Convoy of Hope Responds to Deadly Venezuelan Earthquakes

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global disaster relief organization, Convoy of Hope, is already on the ground responding to last night’s catastrophic earthquakes which shook Venezuela and left more than 180 individuals dead and more than 1,500 injured. Officials expect these numbers to rise.

Convoy of Hope’s teams are currently providing life-sustaining immediate relief, including food, water, and hot meals from mobile kitchens.

“Images of the devastation in Venezuela are heartbreaking,” said Ethan Forhetz, Convoy of Hope’s national spokesperson. “The loss of life is staggering. Convoy of Hope is currently working to deliver much needed essential relief supplies to survivors. As we distribute those life sustaining items, we give hope to people who are walking through unthinkable tragedy.”

Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a national state of emergency as her country’s infrastructure is compromised and the capital city of Caracas in crisis, the need for immediate humanitarian aid is critical. Seismologists classified the disaster as a “seismic doublet,” an extremely rare phenomenon where two major earthquakes occur almost simultaneously, resulting in increased damage to housing and structures. These catastrophic tremors with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, rank among the strongest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in more than a century.

Survivors are still being pulled from the debris, families with missing loved ones are clinging to hope as rescue teams work around the clock, and Convoy of Hope is committed to help for the long haul.

Convoy of Hope is a global, faith-based organization that serves vulnerable communities. By partnering with local churches, businesses, civic organizations, and government agencies, Convoy has strategically offered help and hope in more than 130 countries around the world. Since its founding in 1994, Convoy of Hope has served 350 million people and counting.

Media Contact:
Fabiana Boyce, Public Engagement Specialist
(417) 831-7955
fboyce@convoyofhope.org

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/convoy-of-hope-responds-to-deadly-venezuelan-earthquakes-302811193.html

SOURCE Convoy of Hope

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University of Maryland Expands Landmark Research Program to Address Society’s Most Pressing Challenges

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The Grand Challenges Grants Program channels the university’s research power across 40+ disciplines to advance solutions for the public good

COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Maryland today announced the launch of 11 high-impact research projects funded by nearly $15 million over three years through its Grand Challenges Grants Program, the university’s signature initiative to mobilize research across disciplines in service of society’s most pressing needs.

The newly funded projects draw on the expertise of more than 40 disciplines from across campus, reflecting the university’s commitment to tackling complex challenges — from expanding access to mental health services and heading off future pandemics to reducing educational disparities.

It’s the next step in an ongoing commitment to channel the university’s research power into advancing solutions for the public good. In 2023, the first round of Grand Challenges Grants committed $30 million to 50 projects spanning every college and school — the largest investment of its kind in UMD’s history, resulting in an additional $55 million in external funding.

“The inaugural program demonstrated extraordinary impact due to the breadth of expertise and collaborative spirit across our research enterprise,” Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and Vice President for Research Patrick O’Shea said in an email to the campus community. “Through Grand Challenges 1.0, faculty developed innovative approaches to issues from climate resilience to food insecurity to educational equity and more, strengthening partnerships across disciplines, engaging students in new opportunities, and positioning the university for greater external funding, scholarly impact and public engagement.”

The projects funded this year by Grand Challenges Grants 2.0 were selected from nearly 80 proposals from every college and school involving 400 researchers. The projects will also receive a 50% matching in-kind and/or cash investment from their college or unit.

“These projects exemplify the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to generate new ideas, accelerate discovery and address the grand challenges facing communities in Maryland, across the nation and around the world,” Rice and O’Shea said. “We are inspired by the vision and innovation reflected in these projects, and grateful to everyone who submitted proposals.”

Institutional Awards

IN-PLACE: Interdisciplinary Network for Place-Based Learning, Action and Community-Engaged EnvironMental Health connects time spent in nature with evidence-based mental health care through community partnerships, research and campus programming to simultaneously address the interconnected challenges of mental health, environmental health and health disparities.

Women’s Health Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative advances translational research, workforce development and evidence-based policy to close critical knowledge gaps in women’s health across the lifespan, leveraging AI and community-engaged approaches to drive real-world improvements for a historically underrepresented population in medical research.

Impact Awards

Predictive Biology Hub for Human and Environmental Health develops new predictive tools to mitigate pandemics, improve human health outcomes, and sustain vital ecosystems in the face of emerging global threats across biological scales, from pathogens and ecosystems to brain networks and bioinspired design.

Sustainable and Ethical AI Infrastructure integrates engineering, economics and policy analysis to help Maryland and the nation balance the surging power and water demands of AI data centers with sustainability, affordability and national security goals, while identifying near- and long-term technological solutions for sustainable infrastructure.

Team Awards

Maryland Initiative Against Superbugs focuses on the discovery and engineering of bacteriophage: viruses that infect and kill bacteria. It will combine AI, computational modeling and experimental validation to identify and optimize bacteriophage, or phage, therapies capable of precisely targeting and killing drug-resistant superbugs.

Gut-Healing Smart Pill develops a smart, swallowable capsule that precisely targets and activates the gut’s natural repair mechanisms to heal damaged intestinal tissue, aiming to reduce surgical interventions, improve patient outcomes and lower the enormous costs of inflammatory bowel disease care.

Belonging for Immigrants and Refugees with Disabilities partners with grassroots organizations to provide culturally tailored support services, workforce training and policy advocacy for immigrants and refugees with disabilities to reduce systemic barriers and improve access to education, healthcare and community resources.

AI for Precision Cancer Treatment integrates quantum computing and machine learning to design single-atom catalysts. The emerging approach for improving early cancer detection and treatment efficacy offers a faster, more cost-effective path to safer therapies that minimize damage to healthy tissue.

The Air We Share: A Public Health Revolution for the 21st Century aims to radically improve indoor air safety by advancing the science of airborne infection transmission, demonstrating interventions in homes and healthcare settings, and building the research infrastructure and next-generation leadership needed to make safe indoor air a universal public health standard.

Land-Sea Exchange Network for Salinity: An Early Warning System for Detecting and Managing Salinity Risks tracks salt levels from land to coastal waters and will develop an early warning system to help policymakers and communities identify, manage and reduce the environmental and economic impacts of saltwater intrusion and road salt pollution.

Sustainable Precision Aquaculture Network for Shellfish aims to transform oyster farming into a precision, data-driven industry that addresses global food security, restores water quality and revitalizes coastal economies. It will leverage robotics, AI, big data and Internet of Things technologies to modernize shellfish aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay.

About the University of Maryland

The University of Maryland (UMD) is the state’s flagship university driven by a community of more than 50,000 fearless Terrapins. As a leading research university and top 20 public institution, UMD is proud to be part of the Association of American Universities. Dedicated to excellence and impact for the public good, the university is propelled by a $1.4 billion joint research enterprise. UMD is the nation’s first Do Good campus, and is consistently ranked for its innovation, research and top-tier academic programs. Located in the National Capital Region, the university offers an unparalleled student experience with federal internship opportunities, hundreds of academic programs and study abroad options, and top-ranked living-learning programs. Spurred by a culture of innovation and creativity, UMD’s faculty are global leaders in their fields and include Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and members of the national academies. For more information about the University of Maryland, College Park, visit umd.edu.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/university-of-maryland-expands-landmark-research-program-to-address-societys-most-pressing-challenges-302811205.html

SOURCE University of Maryland

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