At East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital, we want our patients to understand their rights to make medical treatment decisions. The hospital has formal policies to ensure that your wishes about treatment will be followed. You have the right to participate in decisions about your medical care. If you cannot make treatment decisions because you are too sick, your doctor will ask your closest available relative or friends to help decide what is best for you. Sometimes everyone does not agree about what to do. That is why it is helpful if you say in advance what you want to happen if you cannot speak for yourself. The hospital also has a bioethics committee that can help if any questions arise about your treatment wishes.

There are several kinds of advance directives that you may use to say what you want and whom you want to speak for you. One kind of advance directive under California law lets you name someone to make health care decisions for you when you cannot. This form is called a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.

Another type of advance directive is a living will call Natural Death Act Declaration. The Natural Death Act Declaration under California law does not require you to name an agent. Since the Living Will is not a legally binding document in California, you should consider completing either the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care or the Natural Death Act Declaration if you currently have a Living Will.

The hospital is also introducing a new concept already used by other healthcare providers called Five Wishes. Five Wishes is the first living will that talks about your personal, emotional and spiritual needs as well as your medical wishes. It was written with the help of the American Bar Association’s Commission on the legal problems of the elderly, and the nation’s leading experts in the end-of-life care.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care forms are available in English or Spanish in the hospital’s admitting Department or the Social Service Department. Ask your doctor, your nurse, or the hospital social worker for more information on advance directives.

The hospital social worker will assist you in obtaining and/or completing an advance directive.