Spartanburg Regional Hospice gets Duke Endowment grant

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Spartanburg Regional Hospice has received a $412,500 advanced care planning grant from The Duke Endowment. The two-year grant funds will be used to promote end-of-life planning through community awareness with events and education.

“Even with young, healthy people, they need to begin discussing their end-of-life care and designate someone who can make decisions on their behalf,” Dr. Garrett Snipes, hospice and palliative care physician for Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, said in a news release.

Advance care planning includes designating a power of attorney and completing a living will. A medical power of attorney allows someone the patient trusts to make decisions about medical care in a matter that has been discussed previously. It is not uncommon for a patient to lose the capacity to make decisions during a chronic illness or while in the hospital, the release said.

“The worst time to have these kinds of conversations is in the midst of a health crisis, and we see that all the time. The best remedy is to have discussions before an illness or injury occurs,” Snipes said in the release.