Advance Directives

FAQ About Advance Directives
FAQ About Health Care Surrogates
Making An Advance Directive
Download Living Will Directive Form

By law, hospitals and health care institutions are required to ask patients when they are admitted if they have an advance directive. You, as a patient, will be asked this question each time you are admitted to the hospital and will need to provide a copy of your advance directives, if your have one, to the hospital each time as well because of the sensitive nature of advance directives, St. Elizabeth will not accept copies of advance directives before you are admitted.

Frequently Asked Questions
About Advance Directives
Q. What is an advance directive?
A. An advance directive is a document that states, in writing, your choices about medical care and/or names someone to make medical choices for you if you become unable to make decisions regarding medical care for yourself. It is called an "advance directive" because it is signed in advance to let your family and doctor know your wishes about medical treatment. Through advance directives, you can make legally valid decisions about your future medical care. Kentucky law recognizes several types of advance directives. They include living wills, health care surrogate designations, durable powers of attorney and living will directives. Q. Who can make an advance directive?
A. Any person age 18 or over who is of sound mind may make an advance directive.

Frequently Asked Questions
About Health Care Surrogates
Q. What is a health care surrogate?
A. A health care surrogate is an adult you name, in your Kentucky Living Will Directive and Health Care Surrogate Designation Document or another written document, to make medical decisions for you when you are not able to decide for yourself.

Q. Who can be a surrogate?
A. Any adult (18 or older) may be a surrogate except employees, owners, directors or officers of a health care facility (such as hospital or nursing home) where you are receiving care unless that person is related to you or a member of your religious order.

Q. What kinds of decisions can a surrogate make?
A. In general, your surrogate has the authority to make any medical care decisions that you may make for yourself. However, your surrogate may decide to withhold or stop artificial nutrition and hydration (artificially provided food, water or other nourishment or fluids) only in the following circumstances:

• if death is expected in a few days
• if the feeding cannot be digested
• if the burden of providing tube feeding is greater than the benefit
• if you are in a permanently unconscious state and either you have given permission to withhold or stop artificial nutrition and hydration in a written advance directive or there is clear and convincing evidence that you would not have wanted to receive artificial nutrition and hydration under the circumstances.

A surrogate cannot reject life-prolonging treatment for a pregnant woman except in limited circumstances. Your surrogate must honor the wishes you include in your advance directive and must consider the advice of your doctor.