Southwest Health System will opt out of a medical aid-in-dying law that Colorado voters approved in last November’s election, according to a Jan. 5 news release from the company.
The hospital board of directors unanimously voted to opt out of Proposition 106, which allows a terminally ill adult to end his or her life. CEO Kent Rogers recommended the board vote to opt-out after discussions with the hospital’s medical staff, according to the release.
“We discussed this with the executive committee of our medical staff and agreed that actively aiding in a person’s end of life is going to take some additional planning,” Rogers said in the release.
Proposition 106 passed with 64.5 percent of the statewide vote in the Nov. 8 election. In Montezuma County, it passed with 59.25 percent of the vote, 7,334 to 5,045. It was signed into law Dec. 16.
Southwest Health representative Haley Saunders said Friday there is a lack of information on medical aid-in-dying, since Proposition 106 is a new law.
“It’s about the resources that we have and about the experience for the family,” she said.
Provisions of the law allow for organizations to opt in at a later date, and Saunders said Southwest Health will continue to evaluate the issue.
The new law won’t affect advanced medical directives, CPR directives or declarations saying that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn, according to the release.
jacobk@the-journal.com