Advance Care Planning

At Mission Heritage Medical Group, we support an individual’s right to choose the care they want. Our Ethical Directives of Catholic Healthcare call on us to respect the dignity of each person.

Talking with your family, friends and your physician about your wishes for medical care at the end of your life is called advance care planning. It's a way for you, your loved ones and your physician to discuss the kinds of care you want and don't want at that time. You can also specify the care you would want if you become unable to speak or make decisions for yourself, due to a coma or other medical condition. When you write down your wishes, this kind of plan is called an advance directive. If you have an Advanced Care Directive, please bring it to your appointment. If not please download the form below and complete it.

An Advance Health Care Directive is a legal document that tells your physician, your family members and friends about what kind of care you would like to have if you become unable to make medical decisions. It's called an advance directive because you choose your medical care before you become seriously ill.

Think. Talk. Choose. Complete.

Advance Directive Tool Kit

Learn how to make decisions about the care you would want to receive if you become unable to speak for yourself. Visit the Institute for Human Caring website to select your state and download a copy of Providence St. Joseph Health Advance Directive tool kit and forms to assist you and your family in having the conversation, selecting a health care decision maker and completing an Advance Directive.

Advance Directive Forms

Visit www.InstituteforHumanCaring.org and select your state to view language options and download an advance directive.

Five Wishes

Five Wishes serves as an Advance Directive and is a legally-valid tool available for your use. Five Wishes helps ensure your wishes, and those of your loved ones, will be respected-even if you cannot speak for yourself.

POLST (Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment)

A new law effective 1/1/16 allows Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to sign the California POLST form. The form is now available in ENGLISH and will be available in other languages later in January 2016. For more information visit www.capolst.org

POLST Forms

Click here to learn more about POLST.