Daniel J. O'Connor Jr. - Franklin County

QQ: If I namee someone inn my Health CarePower of Attorney to make decisiions forme, how muchmauthorrity does thaat personhave?AA: The personn you name asa your attornney-infact has thhe authority to make decissionsregarding aspects of yoour medical carec if youbecome unnable to exprress your wisshes. Forthis reasonn, you shouldd tell the persson youname howw you feel aboout life-sustaainingtreatment, being fed thhrough feedinng or fluidtubes, andd other imporrtant issues.Also, it is important too remember thhat a HealthCare Poweer of Attorneey document is not thesame as a Financial Poower of Attorrneymuse to givedocument, which you mightaoveer your financcial orsomeone authoritybusiness affairsa.QQ: If my conndition becommes hopeless, can Ispecify thhat I want my feeding annd fluidtubes remmoved?AA: Special instructions aree needed to allowafor theremoval of feeding or fluid tubes iff you becomeepermanenttly unconscioous and if thee feeding anddfluid tubess aren’t needed to providee you withcomfort. If you want too make certaiin that thetubes are removedrshould you becoomepermanenttly unconscioous, you needd to placeyour initiaals on the spaace provided on the LivingWill or Heealth Care Poower of Attorrney form. Iffyou don’t want the tubbes removed whenwyou areepermanenttly unconscioous, don’t iniitial theforms.QQ: If I want to complete a Health Caare Powerof Attorney, do I alsoo have to nomminate aGuardian of my Persoon and Estatte?AA: In 2014, thhe Ohio Heallth Care Powwer ofAttorney wasw expanded to allow yoou tonominate a guardian too your personn and aguardian tot your estatee. In Ohio, guuardianshipis typicallyy pursued whhen a person becomesincompeteent, such as withw advancedd dementia,and there isi no family member or significantother williing to undertake the respoonsibility to4advvocate for thaat person. In ssome cases,guaardianship maay also be puursued if there isconnflict betweenn responsiblee family memmbers.By nnominating a guardian inn the Health CCarePowwer of Attornney, you wouuld communiccateyouur preferencess to the probaate court to cconsideryouur preferencess, should a guuardianship pprocesseverr begin. Howwever, you arre not requireed tocommplete this seection if you ddo not wish tto. Ifyouu prefer not too nominate a guardian, simmplydraww a large "X"" over this secction of the fform.Q: Do I have to usse the standaard forms foora Liiving Will or Health Caare Power offAttoorney or cann I draw up my owndoccuments?A: Thee enclosed foorms were prroduced jointtly bythee Ohio State BBar Associattion, the Ohioo StateMeedical Associiation, the Ohhio HospitalAsssociation, Ohhio Osteopathhic Associatiionandd the Midwesst Care Alliannce. They coomplywitth the requireements of Ohhio law, but yyou donott have to use these forms. You may wwish toconnsult an attorrney for assisstance in draffting adoccument or yoou may draft your own. Inn eithercasse, the documments must coomply with thhespeecific languagge spelled ouut in the OhiooRevvised Code.n I use Advaance Directivve or DNR oordersQ: Canfroom states forr healthcare decisions inn Ohio?A: Addvance directiives and heallth care decissionformms vary fromm state to statee. For exampple, somestatees may recoggnize Five WWishes(wwww.fivewishees.org) or a PPOLST form(Phyysician's Ordders for Life--SustainingTreaatment/wwww.polst.org). UUnder Ohio llaw,heallth care provviders should attempt to hhonor anyadvvance directivve presented to them. Howwever, itis sttrongly recommmended thaat if you spennd anyreguular amount oof time in Ohhio, that youcommplete Ohio'ss advance dirrectives in accordancewithh Ohio law.

Ohioo’sHeaalth CCareePowwer oof AtttorneeyWWhat yoou should knoww about a Healthh Care PPower oofAAttorneey:A Health CareCPower of Attorneyy is a documment that alloows you to name a persson to act onn yourbbehalf to maake health caare decisionns for you if you becomee unable to mmake them for yourselff. Thispperson becoomes an attoorney-in-facct for you.TThe Health Care Powerr of Attorney also allowws you to noominate a guuardian to yyour person and agguardian of your estate. Nominationn does not guaranteegthhat this indivvidual will bbe appointedd to beyyour guardiaan. Instead, it provides an opportuunity for inddividuals to express theeir preferencces forgguardianshipp which can be taken intto account shhould the isssue ever be bbrought to prrobate court.IIf you have a Health Care Power of Attorneyy and a Livinng Will, heaalth care woorkers must ffollowtthe wishes youy state in your Livingg Will, oncee the Livingg Will becommes effectivve. In other wwords,yyour Living Will takes precedencepoveroyour Heealth Care PPower of Atttorney.YYou can chaange your miind and revooke your Heaalth Care P ower of Atttorney at anyy time. You canddo this simply by tellingg your attorney-in-fact, youryphysiciaan and your family that yyou havecchanged youur mind and wish to revooke your Heaalth Care PPower of Atttorney. In thhis case, it iss aggood idea too ask for a coopy of the doocument bacck from anyoone to whomm you may haave given it.A Healthcarre Power of AttorneyAis differentdfromm a Financiaal Power of AAttorney thaat you use too givessomeone autthority over your financiial matters.TThe person youy appoint as your attoorney-in-facct, by compleeting the Heealth Care PPower ofAAttorney foorm, has the powerpto autthorize and refusermediccal treatmentt for you. Thhis authoritty isrrecognized in all mediccal situationns when youu are unablee to express your own wwishes. Unlikke aLLiving Will, it is not limmited to situaations in whiich you are tterminally ill or permaneently unconsscious.FFor examplee, your physiician or the hospitalhmayy consult witth your attorrney-in-fact sshould you bbeiinjured in a carc accident and becomee temporarilyy unconsciouus. You mayy also choose to allowpprotected heealth care infformation to be shared withw your attoorney-in-facct immediately, by initiallingtthe appropriate box in thhe documentt.5

There are fivve limitationns on the autthority of yoour attorney--in-fact:1. An attorney-inafact has limmited authorrity to orderr that life-suustaining treatment bewithdrawn fromm you. Your attorney-in--fact may ordder that life--sustaining ttreatment berefussed or withdrrawn only iff you have a terminal conndition or iff you are in a permanentllyuncoonscious statee. And even then, the atttending physsician and, iff applicable,, the consultingphysician, must confirmcthatt diagnosis, anda your atteending physiician(s) musst determine thatyou havehno reassonable possibility of reggaining decission-makingg ability.2. Yourr attorney-iin-fact does not have thhe authorityy to order thhe withdrawwal of “comffortcare.” Comfort carec is any tyype of mediccal or nursinng care that wwould providde you withcomffort or relieff from pain.3. If yoou are pregnnant, your attorney-inafact cannot order the wwithdrawal of life-sustaainingtreattment unlesss certain coonditions are met. Life--sustaining trreatment cannnot be withdrawnif doing so wouldd terminate thet pregnanccy unless theere is substanntial risk to your life or ttwomine that thee fetus wouldd not be borrn alive.physicians determ4. Yourr attorney-iin-fact may order that nutritionnannd hydratioon be withdrrawn only iff youare ini a terminaal condition or permanently unconnscious statee and two physicians aggreethat nutrition annd hydratioon will no loonger providde comfort oor alleviate pain. If youuwantt to give youur attorney-inn-fact the autthority to wiithhold nutriition and hyddration if yoouweree to become permanentlypy unconsciouus, you mustt indicate thiis in the apprropriate secttionof the Health Caare Power ofo Attorney form. If youu also have a Living Willl, it should bbeconsistent with youryHealth Care Powerr of Attorneey regardingg the withhollding of nutrritionand hydration.hInn other wordds, if you inddicate in yourr Health Caare Power oof Attorney tthatit is permissiblepforf your attoorney-in-factt to order thaat nutrition aand hydrationn be withhelld,then you also shoould indicatee in your Livving Will th at it is permissible for yoour physiciaan tohold nutritioon and hydraation.withh5. If yoou previouslly have giveen consent foor treatmennt (before beecoming unnable tocommmunicate), youryattornney-in-fact cannotcwithddraw your cconsent unleess certaincondditions are met.m Either youryphysicaal condition mmust have chhanged and/or the treatmmentyou approvedais no longer off benefit or thhe treatmentt has not beeen proven efffective.6

HHow to fill out thet Heaalth Care Powerr of Attoorney foorm:YYou should use this formm to appoint someone too make healthh care decisiions for you if you shoulldbbecome unabble to make them for youurself.NNOTE: The section titleed NOTICE TO ADULTT EXECUTINNG THIS DDOCUMENTT is requiredd by lawtto be part off the documeent and mustt accompanyy it and any ccopies distribbuted.1. Read overr all informaation carefullly. You mayy reference the definitioons found onn pages one and twoof the tweelve page State of Ohioo Health Caare Power off Attorney fform locatedd in this boooklet forfurther claarification.22. On the firrst two lines of the form, print your fullf name andd birth date.33. Under, “NNaming of MyM Agent,” fillfi in the namme of the perrson you aree appointing as your attoorneyiin-fact, the agent’sacurreent address anda telephonne number. Immmediately following, yyou may inittial thebbox if you wishw for yourr agent to immmediately havehaccess tto your proteected health care informaation((PHI). If youu choose nott to initial this box, your agent will oonly have access to yourr protected healthccare informaation in the eventethat yoou are incapaacitated and the Health CCare Power oof Attorney isaactivated.44. In the midddle of the thhird page, yoou may namee alternate aagents on thee indicated sppaces; if youucchoose not to name alterrnate agents,, you should cross out thhe unused linnes. You mayy not name yyouraattending phhysician or thhe administrator of any nursingnhomme where youu are receivinng care as yoouraattorney-in-ffact.55. On page fivef of the HealthHCare PowerPof Atttorney form, written in bbold face typpe under SpeecialIInstructionss, is the stateement that willw give yourr physician ppermission too withhold ffood and watter intthe event you are permannently unconnscious. If youy want to ggive your phhysician permmission to wwithholdffood and waater in this situation, thenn you must placepyour innitials in the box indicateed.66. On page fivef at the boottom, the foorm providess a section wwhere you maay write addditional instruuctionsaand impose additional limitations that you may considercapppropriate to ddocument. YYou may attaachaadditional paages if needeed. You shouuld include alla attached ppages with aany copy(iess) you make andyyou should noten the attacched pages ono the form itselfiin the rrelated area.77. On page six,s there is ana explanatioon of the nommination of guardianshipp.

o State Me ic Associa Packet: C n for provid orms. The Donor Reg re Power o form with t arch 2014 lliance exp dical Assoc tion for the hoices, Livi ing the leg packet incl istry Enroll f Attorney he requirem. resses dee iation, the ir efforts in ng Well at al languag udes inform ment Form forms. The ents of Oh p appreciat Ohio Hosp the develo .