CONTACT: Kathi Spetnagel Redlands Community Hospital (909) 335-5593.
END OF LIFE ACT
The recent enactment of California's End of Life Option Act (the "Act")
has raised many questions for physicians, pharmacists, counselors, hospitals,
and other health care providers statewide.
After careful, thoughtful consideration and input from multiple hospital
and medical staff committees (including the Bioethics Committee), the
leadership and governing body of Redlands Community Hospital ("RCH")
has chosen to not participate under the Act at this time. This means that
RCH's employees, medical staff members, staff, and independent contractors
shall not assist a patient in ending his or her life. In addition, no
person may participate on the hospital premises or at the hospital’s
outpatient facilities or clinics.
The Act is clear that no provider, including RCH, is required to assist
a qualified patient in ending his or her own life. Hospitals that do not
allow participation are required to provide public notice. Health care
providers may independently elect to participate in the Act, as long as
they are off hospital premises.
RCH will continue to provide compassionate, high quality care to all our
patients. RCH maintains strong relationships with providers of palliative
and hospice care and will continue these relationships to manage the care
of patients who are facing terminal diagnoses. Any patient wishing to
receive life-ending medication while a patient at this hospital will be
assisted in the transfer to another facility of the patient’s choice.
The transfer will assure continuity of care.
All providers at RCH will respond to any patient’s query about life-ending
medication with openness and compassion. RCH believes all health care
providers have an obligation to openly discuss the patient’s concerns,
unmet needs, feelings, and desires about the dying process. Ultimately,
RCHs goal is to help patients make informed decisions about end-of-life care.
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Redlands Community Hospital is an independent, not for profit stand-alone hospital.