On April 16, join Americans across the country to talk to others about your future health care decisions and complete your advance directive.

On National Healthcare Decisions Day, Galichia Heart Hospital will provide all the resources you need to make an informed decision regarding Advanced Directives, included a chaplain, a social worker and members of its ethics council. Please join us in the lobby from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to discuss any questions you have regarding this important decision.

There is much you can do to take care of yourself or a loved one when it matters most. Consider these statistics according to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:

•Less than 50 percent of the severely or terminally ill patients studied had an advance directive in their medical record.

•Only 12 percent of patients with an advance directives had received input from their physician in its development.

•Between 65 and 76 percent of physicians whose patients had an advance directive were not aware that it existed.

For more information, visit the NHDD online at www.nhdd.org or call Ann McShane, Director of Cinical Development and Outpatient Services at Galichia Heart Hospital at (316) 858-2626.