GOOD
DEATH HOSPICE
CREATING THE FIRST RIGHT-TO-DIE
HOSPICE
SYNOPSIS:
The Good Death Hospice will empower dying individuals
to choose
any legal, doctor-approved options at the end of life
---explicitly
including legal choices that will lead to death.
OUTLINE:
1. THE GOOD DEATH HOSPICE SHOULD BE LEGALLY SEPARATE
FROM ALL OTHER RIGHT-TO-DIE ORGANIZATIONS.
A. SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
B. SEPARATE FINANCES.
Medicare and private insurance coverage for hospice care
2.
BEGIN WITH A RESIDENTIAL HOSPICE
IN OREGON, WASHINGTON, OR CALIFORNIA.
A. HIGH-SECURITY SITE
NEEDED TO PROTECT AGAINST PROTESTS.
B. PURCHASE OR BUILD?
3. USING ADVERSE PUBLICITY TO ADVANCE
THE RIGHT-TO-DIE.
4.
EXPAND TO INCLUDE AT-HOME HOSPICE CARE.
5. APPLY SAFEGUARDS
TO
PROTECT BOTH THE PATIENTS AND THE HOSPICE.
6. PROFESSIONAL
STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.
7. HOW THIS RIGHT-TO-DIE HOSPICE DIFFERS
FROM DIGNITAS.
8. CORRECTIONS OF PROCEDURE WILL BE
REQUIRED.
9.
LIKELY SIDE-EFFECTS
OF CREATING THE FIRST RIGHT-TO-DIE HOSPICE.
GOOD
DEATH HOSPICE
CREATING
THE FIRST RIGHT-TO-DIE HOSPICE
by James Leonard Park
A right-to-die
hospice
need not be a contradiction in terms.
Traditionally the hospice
movement has been committed to natural
death
—neither
delaying death nor shortening the process of dying.
And the
right-to-die movement has favored patient autonomy
—allowing
each of us to select the best time and place to die.
Can these two
philosophies find common
ground?
Who will create the
first right-to-die hospice
somewhere in the USA or Canada?
These
individuals will probably come from right-to-die organizations,
but
because of the necessity to keep the first hospice independent
of
any established organizations,
they will not
be acting in any official capacity
for
any existing organization
when they put their names on the
Articles of Incorporation
to create what might be called the "Good
Death Hospice".
A.
SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Individuals already active in the right-to-die movement
might also
becoming associated with this new effort,
as long as they make
clear that they are acting as individuals,
not as representatives
of other organizations, etc.
This is
parallel to business corporations having board members
who also
serve on the boards of other corporations.
The corporations are
utterly separate legal entities.
If one business goes bankrupt,
this does no harm to the other corporations
also
(incidentally) served by some of the same board members.
Each separate corporation is responsible for its own finances
and
for controlling the behavior of any employees it hires.
B. SEPARATE FINANCES.
The
most basic reason for having separate corporations
is to protect
each corporation from any adverse consequences
that might happen
to some other corporation.
Whatever
troubles the first right-to-die hospice will have
should be
absolutely isolated from the finances of other organizations.
If
the Good Death Hospice is shut down by some legal problems,
this
should not affect the activities of other right-to-die
organizations.
If this new hospice
will be operating within the United States,
it will draw its funds
mainly from the taxpayers,
who are already supporting hundreds of
other hospices
by means of the Medicare hospice benefit.
If
the first right-to-die hospice emerges in Canada,
public funds
will also be available to support its operation.
This will be one
source of major controversy,
since many people have not explicitly
considered that public funds
are already supporting patients in
the last days of their lives.
But in the
United States, Medicare does already pay
a per-day fee for
everyone over 65 who needs hospice care.
The exact amount of this
daily fee depends on the level of care needed.
And most private
health insurance also includes a hospice benefit.
The Good Death Hospice should operate
entirely above board and
in the plain light of day.
So it should comply with all rules
and regulations
for creating and operating a hospice within the
USA or within Canada
and within whatever state or province is
chosen for this first effort.
There will also be local ordinances
concerning the placement and operation of such health-care
facilities.
In some locations, every new health-care facility
using public funds
must be approved by a committee that reviews
health-care facilities.
2.
BEGIN WITH A RESIDENTIAL HOSPICE
IN OREGON, WASHINGTON, OR CALIFORNIA.
Because the northwest states of Oregon and Washington
have such
long histories of supporting the right-to-die,
these might be
likely states for establishing the first right-to-die hospice.
These
states also have explicit Death with Dignity Acts,
which allow
doctors to prescribe life-ending chemicals
for qualified patients
when specified safeguards have been fulfilled.
And almost all who
take advantage of these Death with Dignity Acts
are also receiving
hospice care at the end of their lives.
In 2016, California
joined the right-to-die states.
Will it become the first state to
have a right-to-die hospice?
Would it be
possible to create
greater cooperation
between hospice care and the right-to-die
movement?
A residential hospice is probably
the best way to begin.
This would be an actual building (perhaps
as home-like as possible)
with separate bedrooms for each
patient
and with all the necessary support equipment and
staff.
Since each patient might be expected to stay
in the
Good Death Hospice for at least a week,
food service, laundry,
nursing care, etc. should all be provided.
Research might discover where and how conventional hospices
are
already operating in the first location chosen for this experiment.
The publicity generated by proposing the first right-to-die
hospice
will draw public attention to other hospices already in
operation.
And the public might discover that having good places
for people to die
is not harmful to the neighborhoods where
hospices operate.
Oregon had
only one residential hospice,
altho there are many at-home hospice
services.
And this one hospice in Portland declined to
admit patients
who wanted to take advantage of Oregon's Death with
Dignity Act.
(The Oregon law does permit health-care providers
and institutions
to exempt themselves from the Death with Dignity
Act.)
Thus, perhaps Portland, Oregon would
be a good location.
This would provide all dying patients with an
open choice
between a conventional
hospice that discourages choosing death
and a right-to-die
hospice that allows all legal end-of-life choices.
A. HIGH-SECURITY SITE
NEEDED TO PROTECT AGAINST PROTESTS.
However, because the Good Death Hospice
will not be a
conventional health-care facility,
its location will have to be
more secure
than any other hospice has ever been.
One possibility would be a large farm or ranch in the countryside.
This would make it possible to have a high-security fence
surrounding the whole facility, to protect the patients and the
staff.
However, rural areas might have the most legal
obstacles
preventing the creation of a right-to-die hospice.
Another possibility might be putting the hospice
entirely on the
upper floors of a high-rise structure.
Then, security would
concentrate on the elevators and stairwells.
Only persons already
screened and approved
would be permitted to enter the floors
operated by the hospice.
In whatever
location selected, one of the first criteria should be
having
complete security for everyone involved.
There might be public
protests against this first right-to-die service.
And there might
even be violence
from people who think they are protecting the
innocent from death.
Each possible
location should be checked by security experts
to make certain
that there is no easy way to attack the facility.
Some lessons
might be learned from protecting U.S. embassies
in countries where
at least some of the people are hostile.
We
know from the experience of abortion clinics and doctors
that a few fanatics might use violence
when trying
to prevent medical services they deplore.
B.
PURCHASE OR BUILD?
It might be possible to purchase some health-care facility
that
has become obsolete for its original purpose.
Medical technology
sometimes makes it better to build a new facility
rather than
attempt to retro-fit an old building with new equipment.
But an
aging hospital, clinic, or nursing-home in a secure location
might
be an ideal place to create the first right-to-die hospice.
Caring
for the dying does not require elaborate technology.
Also, private hospices do come and go as their ownership
changes.
There might already be an operating residential hospice
that is for sale in the state or province chosen for the Good
Death Hospice.
Such a choice might be
easier for getting local licenses
for a right-to-die hospice.
If
the closed-down hospice was already licensed,
perhaps its license
could be purchased with the buildings.
At least, the neighbors
will have no basis to complain
if they have already tolerated a
conventional hospice for some years.
Building a brand-new residential hospice would also be possible.
This
would be more expensive, but it would have the advantage of
being
able to include the needed security measures.
Start-up money will be an issue,
but that is a factor in creating
any new corporation.
Persons in the general public who support the
right-to-die
will be the most likely investors and/or
contributors.
Eventually the Good Death Hospice will pay for its
building
and its operation with the revenue devoted to hospice
care.
The daily payments for hospice care are not large fees,
but
hundreds of conventional hospices
have been able to create and
sustain themselves
using mainly these operating funds.
It might even be
possible to start this hospice
with the generous gift from a single
donor.
And the legacies of grateful families will be another
source of income.
3.
USING ADVERSE PUBLICITY TO ADVANCE THE RIGHT-TO-DIE.
Because the first public reaction might be revulsion and horror,
this
will make even the first proposal for a right-to-die
hospice
front-page news across the country.
People will want
to know what devils
have hatched such a scheme.
But the adverse
publicity will also draw the attention
of people who support the
right-to-die.
They will see that there is finally going to be a
place
where
people can go to die in peace.
And this controversy will generate millions of dollars worth
of
free publicity for the right-to-die movement.
Instead of spending
thousands of dollars to put up bill-boards,
we will just have to
allow ourselves to be discovered on the Internet
by all those
curious people (both in favor and against)
who want to know more
about the right-to-die
and about the possibility of creating a
hospice
that will allow people to choose death,
as long as
they stay completely
within the law.
Donations will support both this specific
first right-to-die hospice
and all known right-to-die
organizations.
Public debate about
end-of-life options
will be opened as perhaps never before.
Some
people will defend the right-to-die.
Others will oppose any
choices at the end of life.
But the more such matters are
discussed,
as
long as both side can be heard,
the
case for the right-to-die is certain to win more people.
6.
PROFESSIONAL STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.
The most important professional staff member is the medical
director,
who
will be a licensed physician in good standing with the local
authorities.
This doctor will take responsibility
for all of
the technicalities of the medical care of the patient.
And this
doctor will confirm (or disconfirm)
the medical diagnosis and
prognosis
that brought the patient into the hospice in the first
place.
As mentioned in the
safeguard-procedures above,
there must be a second medical evaluation of the
patient.
And if this shows some differences from the various
earlier diagnoses,
then all questions must be resolved before
plans for death go forward.
Likewise,
there will be a routine psychological evaluation,
including the
patient's reasons for choosing death
—just
to rule out any irrational
suicidal urges
or family
pressures
pushing toward a premature death.
The
nurses who will give daily care to the patient
will also be part
of the evaluation process.
They will also be communicating with
the patient and the family.
And if they find any reasons to doubt
the process,
they will also be
able to call a time-out
—pausing
the process of planning for death
until all uncertainties can be
resolved.
Likewise, there will be family
and other volunteers involved,
who will also be asked for their
opinions about the whole process.
No
death-planning process will ever be as thoro as
the process used
for deciding these first right-to-die choices
within the first
hospice explicitly established to guarantee
the
right-to-die under the most careful safeguards.
8.
CORRECTIONS OF PROCEDURE WILL BE REQUIRED.
No matter how perfect the planning beforehand,
some problems in
specific cases will nevertheless arise.
And the Board of Directors
will be responsible
for making changes of policy and procedures
to correct any problems as they become known.
Some problems will arise because of the demand of the public
to
know more about each death.
But each patient's death is a private
matter.
There will be no
disclosure
of the medical record
or the death-planning
record of any specific patient.
When the news media asks for
more information,
they will be allowed to know the general
policies and procedures,
not
any of the specifics of any particular patient's end-of-life
choices.
Opponents of the
right-to-die and of this specific hospice
will probably claim that
the non-disclosure
is really intended to conceal some crimes.
And
law-enforcement might investigate some deaths.
But the public will
have to be satisfied
that the proper authorities did investigate
particular deaths
and they found nothing that violated any laws.
After the first few years of successful
operation,
the public controversy will die down.
And this
first-on-the-continent right-to-die hospice
will take its proper
place alongside all of the other organizations
that take care of
patients as they come to the end of their lives.
9.
LIKELY SIDE-EFFECTS
OF CREATING THE FIRST RIGHT-TO-DIE HOSPICE.
The
first right-to-die hospice will affect all end-of-life care.
Media
coverage will inform the public of their legal
end-of-life options.
Patients and their families will begin
to ask for the same rights
within the health-care institutions
already providing terminal care.
The public debate stimulated by
the first right-to-die hospice
will cause people to think about
their own
plans for death.
Public
prosecutors will develop ways to review life-ending decisions,
even
as they occur in established hospitals and nursing homes.
New laws
will be proposed and some will be enacted.
These will define more
clearly than ever before
precisely
what forms of aid-in-dying will be permitted.
Vague laws
against 'assisting suicide' will be clarified.
Many
new
safeguards and guidelines will be suggested.
Terminal care
will be improved because end-of-life
decisions
will
become an explicit theme of all planning for death.
Instead of
merely following (unstated) protocols for dying,
patients will be
offered various medical pathways leading to death.
AUTHOR:
James Leonard Park is an independent
thinker,
living and writing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
He
is a strong advocate of the right-to-die
when very careful safeguards
are fulfilled.
This proposal for creating
the first right-to-die hospice
has become Chapter 49 of his
longest book:
How
to Die: Safeguards for Life-Ending Decisions:
"Good Death
Hospice: Creating the First Right-to-Die Hospice".
WOULD
YOU LIKE TO MEET OTHER SUPPORTERS
OF
RIGHT-TO-DIE HOSPICE?
If
you would like the idea of establishing a Good Death Hospice,
consider
joining a Facebook Group and Seminar called Right-to-Die Hospice.
The essay
above introducing the Good Death Hospice
has become Chapter 3 of
Right-to-Die
Hospice.
Here
is a complete description of this on-line gathering of advocates of
the right-to-die:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/ED-RTDH.html
And
here is the direct link to our Facebook Group:
Right-to-Die
Hospice:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/145796889119091/
Further
Reading
Created
October 19, 2012; Revised 10-20-2012; 10-25-2012; 10-26-2012;
10-30-2012;
11-2-2012; 11-7-2012; 11-11-2012; 11-14-2012;
11-28-2012; 12-7-2012;
1-3-2013; 1-12-2013; 1-13-2013; 3-30-2013;
6-7-2013;
4-28-2014; 5-15-2014; 4-18-2015; 7-11-2015; 10-3-2015;
12-22-2015; 12-26-2015;
1-22-2016; 2-2-2016; 2-2-2018; 9-14-2018; 5-29-2020;