MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Nearly 89,000 people requested forms for advance health care directives last year, setting a record for the West Virginia Center for End-of-Life Care.
The center at West Virginia University launched in 2002 to help people with medical powers of attorney, living wills and medical orders such as do-not-resuscitate cards.
It also offers POST forms, short for Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment.
Center director Dr. Alvin Moss says a total of 88,704 advance directives and medical orders were requested last year. That's 4,000 more than 2011.
More than half were POST forms converting a patient's wishes into medical orders. That ensures doctors do only what their patients want.
Moss says surveys show most West Virginians would prefer to die peacefully and with dignity, not connected to machines for prolonged periods.
