LewisGale Hospital Alleghany will participate in National Healthcare Decision Day on Wednesday, Apr. 16 to help individuals make sure their healthcare wishes are known in the event they are unable to speak for themselves.
The hospital will be offering free advance directives forms, guidance on establishing a living will and information for naming an agent for healthcare decisions. Hospital representatives will be available in the main lobby of the hospital on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. to answer questions and to provide assistance with filling out the forms. Refreshments will also be provided as well as door prizes.
Advance directives will be available for both Virginia and West Virginia residents. As an added service, any completed Advance Directive will be put into the hospital’s electronic medical record system.
All adults can benefit from thinking about what their healthcare choices would be in the event of a medical emergency or if they were to become seriously ill and their family needed to make end-of-life decisions for them. An Advance Directive ensures these decisions are written down in advance so that the patient’s wishes are carried out.
Advance directives come in two main forms: A “healthcare power of attorney” (or “proxy” or “agent” or “surrogate”) which documents the person you select to be your voice for your healthcare decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. While a “living will” documents what kind of medical treatments you would or would not want at the end of life.
National Healthcare Decisions Day is an initiative to encourage patients to express their wishes regarding healthcare and for providers and facilities to respect those wishes, whatever they may be.
LewisGale Regional Health System includes 44 HCA-owned patient care facilities including four hospitals, two regional cancer centers and a multidisciplinary cancer clinic, six outpatient centers and affiliations with nearly 700 physicians, including 146 employed providers and more than 500 independent physicians. With 3,300 employees, its annual payroll is $230.1 million. The system also paid $41 million in taxes and provided more than $106 million in uncompensated care to those most in need in 2012 alone. LewisGale is also part of HCA Virginia, the largest and most comprehensive healthcare provider in the Commonwealth with nearly 15,000 employees. For more information see www.lewisgale.com.
