Catholic Palliative Care Services Raises Awareness About Advanced Care Planning for National Healthcare Decisions Day 2025

April 16 was National Healthcare Decisions Day.

National Healthcare Decisions Day is observed annually on April 16 to inspire, educate, and empower individuals and healthcare providers about the importance of advance care planning. Advance care planning involves making decisions about the healthcare you would want to receive if you’re unable to speak for yourself. This includes completing documents like advance directives or living wills and appointing a healthcare power of attorney. These steps ensure your medical care aligns with your values and can alleviate stress for your loved ones during difficult times.

Also on this day, our Catholic Palliative Care Services teams celebrated National Healthcare Decisions Day with the HCA Florida Mercy Hospital ICU team as well as collaborated with Holy Cross Health for an expert panel presentation for local community members on advanced care planning.

The panel presentation was hosted at Holy Cross HealthPlex in Fort Lauderdale and the panel consisted of Holy Cross Health Director of Missions Mary Carter Waren, Catholic Hospice and Catholic Palliative Care Services Medical Director Dr. Tracy Romanello, Holy Cross Health Nurse Manager of Inpatient Care Management Alecia West, and Catholic Palliative Care Services Program Manager Chris Curtis. The event also concluded with a Q&A and opportunity to work on advanced care planning documents with Catholic Palliative Care Services Physician Dr. Ronal Bekic.

Before the panel presentation, tables were set up to provide additional resources to attendees, which included information from Bienes Cancer Center, Galagher Medical Group, Holy Cross Hospital, HCH HealthPlex, and Pompano Beach Senior Event.

Thank you to all those who helped our teams host these special opportunities to raise awareness about advanced care planning! We would also like to give a special thanks to Trystar for catering our event with Holy Cross and Holy Cross Health for providing prizes for our raffle, which included 3-month membership to HCH gym, massage at the HealthPlex spa, and sports bags.

Last but not least, thanks to our Palliative Care teams for putting together these opportunities to make sure we can have these difficult, yet important conversations about our health and the health of our loved ones!

Need help guiding these conversations? Learn about Advanced Care Planning at www.theconversationproject.org, or you can contact our team at Catholic Palliative Care Services. Contact Chris Curtis at CCurtis@catholichospice.org.

It’s never too early or late to talk about it. So, let’s talk about it!