Olympia area hospitals won't offer assisted suicide services

OLYMPIA — Providence St. Peter Hospital and Capital Medical Center officials said Thursday that the hospitals will not participate in physician-assisted suicide under the state's new Death with Dignity law, but instead will refer terminally ill patients to their primary doctors.

Providence Health & Services spokeswoman Karina Jennings said Thursday that the same standard applies for all of its medical facilities and nursing homes in Washington and Oregon. The key reason: Providence is a Catholic health care organization, and physician-assisted suicide is "not a path conducive to our values," she said.

"We don't believe that health care providers should be put in the position of taking someone's life," Jennings said.

Providence St. Peter Hospital community board member Dr. Dennis Peck declined to comment Thursday, deferring to Jennings for official comment.

Washington residents voted to approve Initiative 1000 in November; it took effect March 4. Oregon has had a similar Death with Dignity law for about 10 years.

Providence hospitals are notifying patients through the Vital Signs newsletter and through paperwork filled out at the time of admission, Jennings said.

She said the hospitals will encourage hospice and palliative care but will draw the line at suicide.

West Olympia's Capital Medical Center, too, has opted not to participate in physician-assisted suicide after formulating its position with input from a sister hospital in Oregon, its board of trustees and the Washington Hospital Association, President and Chief Executive Michael Motte and Chief Nursing Officer Elisa Moylan said Thursday.

Moylan and Motte emphasized that the law isn't geared toward hospitals but is focused on terminally ill patients and their doctors.

"Years ago, people went to a hospital to die, but people don't stay in a hospital anymore if they don't have a need for acute care," Moylan said.

Capital Medical Center, owned by Tennessee-based Capella Healthcare, has created its own policy with regard to the new law and a brochure for patients, Motte said.

About 150 brochures have been distributed since March 4, he said.

The brochure reads, in part: "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. We believe that most people would rather die at home and not in a hospital."