RENEW and POLST: an abbreviated timeline
August 1997. We held our first meeting to explore whether to start a regional ethics network
May 1998. RENEW adopted patient-treatment preferences (“POLST”) as our first project for Washington State. A similar effort in Oregon took two years.
March 2000. RENEW applied to the Washington Department of Health (DOH) for pilot status to field-test POLST in Whitman and Spokane Counties. We began outreach to physicians, hospitals, Emergency Medical Services staff, and nursing homes.
The Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) funded our request for a PACE grant (Patient awareness and community education). Also supporting our pilot study were the DOH and the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).
DSHS recognized POLST as a solution to the problem of informed consent for the patient lacking decisional capacity. That is, legal surrogates with a physician order (POLST) can carry out a patient’s previously expressed wishes regarding end of life care.
May 2005. RENEW and WSMA launch a statewide campaign to implement POLST with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.