Dear Editor: I attended and participated in the SEARHC annual listening session on April 7 at Harrigan Centennial Hall with a full room of interested locals.
I want to thank the SEARHC leadership for extending the allotted hour, so that all those in attendance who wished to speak and ask questions had an opportunity to do so. I had posed the question, ‘‘What is the status of reestablishing the Medicare Certified Home Health Care Program?’’ The answer was essentially that there is no ‘‘status’’ as the program will not be reestablished, and further, that this program has been eliminated from all SEARHC hospitals in the region because it was not sustainable.
This program had provided end-of-life comfort care (pain management) to those people who chose to pass away in their own beds at home, and not at the local hospital. If you are one of those people, I would just suggest to include in the Advanced Health Care Directive provided by SEARHC, or a Living Will, a prescription for pain medication that can be administered at home by the Health Care Agent at the signs of pain and suffering that cannot be relieved. I believe this to be a critical component of choice in end-of-life care.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Karen Lucas, Sitka
