Everyone has the right to ensure their medical wishes are carried out. Advance Directives are written before a serious illness or injury occurs. In Wisconsin, you may write a Living Will and Power of Attorney to specify the type and extent of medical care you want to receive at any time in your life.
Forms may be filled out and filed directly with your physician or at a safe place at home where loved ones know how to access.
If you need assistance filing out the forms, trained staff at Watertown Regional Medical Center are available to assist you at no cost. Walk-in clinics (no appointment necessary) are held each Thursday from 1pm-2pm at Registration in the main hospital lobby. If you would like a one-on-one consultation at no cost, please call Dana at 920-262-4605 or Maria at 920-262-4705.
Power of Attorney for Healthcare Forms
Living Will Forms
Q: What is an Advanced Directive?
A: An Advanced Directive directs your loved one in advance by letting them know your end-of-life wishes.
Q: What is a Power of Attorney for Healthcare?
A: The Power of Attorney for Healthcare is documentation used to appoint someone to work with your physician to make healthcare decisions for you.
Q: I already have a Durable Power of Attorney for Finance; do I still need to have a Healthcare Power of Attorney?
A: Yes, these are different documents with different purposes.
Q: What is an agent?
A: An agent is a trusted person that you choose to enforce your end-of-life wishes, even if it is not what they would have chosen for you.
Q: If I complete a Power of Attorney for Healthcare, and assign an agent, does that mean I am no longer able to make my own healthcare decisions?
A: No, a Power of Attorney for Healthcare does not become active unless two separate doctors decide you are no longer able to make rational healthcare decisions for yourself.
Q: What is a Living Will?
A: The living will can be a very broad or a very narrow document, according to the wishes of the patient. It is the patient's written statement of what he or she wants to occur in the event of serious accident or illness. It is primarily directed to medical personnel about the type of care the patient wishes to have, or wishes not to have, under situations of terminal illness or incapacitation.