Phoebe officials stress importance of advance care planning

ALBANY – Friday is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day to inspire, educate and empower the public about the importance of advance care planning. While advance care planning is a difficult topic for discussion, the alternative can leave family members struggling to make decisions for a loved one. Advance care planning removes the burden from loved ones.

“At Phoebe, we offer palliative care for patients with life-limiting illnesses and hospice care for those facing an end-of-life illness,” Chaplain Will Runyon, director of Chaplaincy Services & Palliative Care at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, said in a news release. “Those are difficult issues to face for any patient and family, especially those who have not planned ahead. Advance care planning can make that challenging time of life a little easier on everyone.”

An important part of planning is completing an advance directive. A lawyer is not necessary, but an advance directive is still a legal document, Phoebe officials noted. Such a directive allows individuals to state their wishes regarding end-of-life medical care – including the types of care an individual does and does not want – in case that individual is no longer able to make decisions or communicate their wishes. It also allows individuals to choose the person they want to express those health care decisions for them.

Advance care planning involves making future health care decisions, expressing preferences and clarifying values. On this year’s National Healthcare Decisions Day, Phoebe encourages everyone to talk with their loved ones, health care providers, even friends about it.

“These are not easy conversations to have or easy decisions to make, but they are important,” Runyon said. “And they are better made when they are clearly thought out at a time when you’re not facing a stressful medical crisis.”

For more information about advance care planning and advance directive forms, visit https://aging.georgia.gov/get-advance-directives.

Phoebe officials also announced Thursday that the hospital system’s current COVID-19 numbers were holding steady: 22 patients being treated for the virus at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany and none at Phoebe medical centers in Americus and Sylvester.