The Greene County Medical Center wants to remind everyone of a few critical documents people should have in the event you can’t make healthcare decisions for yourself.

Advance Directives consist of two types of documents including, a Living Will and a Durable Power of Attorney. A Living Will gives direction to your physician which life-sustaining producers should be withheld or withdrawn if you are in a terminal condition and can’t make those decisions on your own. A Durable Power of Attorney is a third party that makes medical treatment decisions for someone who can’t do so themselves. The designated “agent” can also make health care decisions in the best interest of a patient, if their own wishes are not known. 

Greene County Medical Center also has the Iowa Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment forms. This document is a summary of a patient’s preferences for key life-sustaining treatments. The IPOST stays with the patient and may be honored in any Iowa health care setting, however, it does not replace or revoke the Advance Directives. Contact the medical center for more information at 515-386-2114.