Advance Directives the Focus of National Healthcare Decisions Day, April 16
Booklet to Help You Plan for Critical Healthcare Decisions Available at Copley Hospital.
04/08/2010
Morrisville – Medical decisions are often very hard to make, especially when you have to rely on a loved one to make them for you in the event you are unable to make them yourself. You may want to make your future wishes and instructions for healthcare known to your family, friends and healthcare providers in advance, before you need them. You can do that with an Advance Directive. It is a document that contains specific instructions that guides your healthcare providers and loved ones and informs them of your treatment preferences in the event you lose the ability to communicate them yourself.
Friday, April 16, is National Healthcare Decisions Day and Copley Hospital invites you to join Americans across the country in documenting and sharing your healthcare decisions by completing an Advance Directive. The booklet, “Taking Steps: Planning for Critical Healthcare Decisions,” will be available in the Main Lobby that day. Members of Copley’s Patient and Family Services staff are available to help you understand the information, and if you wish, can help you complete the document that becomes a part of your medical record. Copley Hospital provides this service year round for any community resident. You can reach Copley’s Patient and Family Services staff at 888-8311. A publication of the Vermont Ethics Network, the booklet includes an Advance Directive form that lets you name a person as your “agent” to make health care decisions for you if you become unable or unwilling to make your own decisions. The form also helps you state your treatment wishes, offering choices about having, not having or stopping treatment necessary to keep you alive under certain circumstances. There is additional space for you to write out any additional wishes or instructions. Additional information and an Advance Directive form is available online at http://healthvermont.gov/vadr/ or by calling the Vermont Advance Directive Registry at 1-800-548-9455 Contact Information
Leah Hollenberger 802-888-8301
