Advance Care Planning
What type of medical care would you want if you had a sudden accident or illness and couldn't speak for yourself? Who would you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf? Advance Care Planning (ACP) will help you plan now to ensure your preferences and decisions for healthcare are known and honored.
Advance Care Planning resources
What is an advance directive?
An advance directive is a legal document that outlines your preferences for medical care if you’re no longer able to speak for yourself. We encourage all adults—regardless of health—to complete an advance directive including a Power of Attorney for Health Care (POAHC-AD). This document lets you appointment someone to be your healthcare agent. They can make choices on your behalf when you are no longer able to do so.
Our trained facilitators can help
Meaningful conversation is the best way to begin planning for your future healthcare decisions. We invite you to meet with one of our trained Advance Care Planning facilitators. We'll guide you through each aspect of advance care planning. This includes completing a POAHC-AD at no cost. If you prefer, you can start the process on your own using the POAHC-AD form.
Advance Care Planning Workshop
Make your advance directive official
After you’ve completed your Power of Attorney for Health Care form, we recommend that you:
- Make a copy for each person you have listed as your healthcare agent.
- Take a copy to the doctor's office where you receive care.
- Keep your original in a place where those close to you can find it.
If you are a Gundersen patient, you can:
- Scan and email to: [email protected]
- Mail to: Gundersen Health Information Management
1900 South Ave., NCA2-08
La Crosse, WI 54601 - Fax to: (608) 775-5130, Attention: HIM – Advance Directives
Update your advance directive regularly
Advance care planning is an ongoing process. Review your advance directive when any of the 5 D's occur:
- Decade has gone by
- Dispute or death of a loved one
- Divorce
- Decline in health
- Diagnosis with a serious illness
To make minor changes like an address or phone number, let us know via MyChart, during an office visit or by calling (608) 775-6000. To change healthcare agent name(s) or provide new instructions, you must complete a new advance directive.
You can visit one of our trained Advance Care Planning facilitators without a referral from your primary care provider.