Q & A

The Designation of Health Care Surrogate takes effect as soon as your physician deems that you are unable to make your own health care decisions. A Living Will will be enacted only when your attending physician along with a consulting physician determine you are:

1. Unable to make your own medical decisions and are unlikely to regain this ability.
   
   AND
   
2. In a terminal persistent vegetative state, an end-stage condition, or in any other condition that you specified in your Living Will. A more complete definition of applicable conditions can be found in the instructions section of the Advance Directives form available for download above.

Requirements for notarization and witnesses you need present when you sign your Advance Directives may vary by state law. An advance directive is valid in Illinois if it is signed and witnessed by two qualified witnesses, the person signing is at least 18 years old, and it is not a situation where the person is pregnant. The directive remains valid until it is revoked, changed, or expires on a specific date, if one was included. Illinois has specific statutory forms for a Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will that must be used to comply with state law.

Prior to your medical procedure you should appoint a designated health care surrogate. If you already have one designated, changes in marital status or within your family may require changes to your surrogate appointment as well:

• Single
• Newly Married
• Divorced, or contemplating divorce
• Separated
• Living with a significant other
• Wanting to designate one person from the proxy category where there are several people.

Any person who is 18-years of age and older, as well an emancipated minor, can have Advance Directives.

This may vary by state law. If you are unable to make decisions, healthcare professionals must consult your family members. Some states have decisions‑making laws to identify individuals who may make decisions on your behalf when you do not have an Advance Directive, such as your spouse, parents or adult children.

If you cannot make health care decisions for yourself, a health care "surrogate" may be chosen for you. Under Illinois law, two doctors must certify that you cannot make health care decisions for yourself before a health care surrogate can be appointed.

A health care surrogate can be one of the following persons (in order of priority):

• Guardian of the person
• Spouse
• Any adult child(ren)
• Either parent
• Any adult brother or sister
• Any adult grandchild(ren)
• A close friend
• Guardian of the estate.

Yes, if you are an adult or emancipated minor inpatient. When you are admitted to a nursing unit you will be asked to complete a personal health history form or your nurse will assist you. At this time you will be asked about an Advance Directives form that has a summary of UChicago Medicine AdventHealth’s policy.

If you have completed Advance Directives, please bring a copy with you to the hospital and give it to your nurse. If you would like to complete one, please let your nurse know. If you have questions after reading the instructions on the back of the Advance Directives form, you may request to speak to a chaplain, case manager or your physician.

In an open-chest, beating-heart bypass procedure, surgeons make an incision through the breastbone to gain access to the heart. In many cases, surgeons do a partial sternotomy, which is a shorter incision through the breastbone than a full sternotomy. Unlike traditional bypass surgery, the heart is not stopped during a beating-heart bypass procedure. This approach uses special devices to stabilize the part of the heart the surgeon is operating on.

At UChicago Medicine AdventHealth, beating-heart bypass is typically performed without the use of a heart-lung bypass machine, though it may be performed with the support of the machine in some cases.

More than 95% of coronary bypass surgeries performed at our UChicago Medicine AdventHealth hospitals are done on a beating heart. Although beating-heart bypass is not an option for all patients requiring bypass surgery, our experienced surgeons are frequently able to offer it safely to many patients.