End of Life Choices New York

End of Life Choices New York seeks to expand choice at the end of life, respecting every individual’s wishes, and striving for the best possible quality of life and a humane and peaceful death.

 We help patients and their loved ones face the end of life with calm facts and choices of action during a difficult time. We engage in a variety of educational and advocacy efforts to ensure that advance directives and end of life wishes are honored.

No dying person should have to endure more suffering than he or she is willing to bear. Everyone should have the right to die, if possible, in a way that they decide and controls, consistent with their values and beliefs. Yet, in New York State, many people die protracted deaths with terrible suffering. Reports, including the 2015 Dying in America Report of the Institute of Medicine, consistently show that too many people die badly, often in ways inconsistent with their wishes. Too many people also receive levels of care and treatment at the end of their lives that they do not want or would not want if they were fully informed of their treatment options.

End of Life Choices New York has been at the forefront of these issues in New York, with an experienced staff and board working to achieve better care and more choices for the dying. We have nearly two decades of experience and relationships with New York policy-makers, health care providers, academics, and the clergy, that we continue to harness to create change. We have first-hand knowledge of our state’s health care landscape and have worked successfully in Albany to initiate and pass groundbreaking legislation to enhance end of life care.