Former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care in his home rather than undergo additional medical attention, according to a statement from The Carter Center on Saturday.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers,” The Carter Center wrote in a press release.
“I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and—as always—their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words,” Jason Carter, the couple’s grandson and chair of The Carter Center governing board, subsequently tweeted.
President Carter’s health issues are well documented. In 2015, he announced that he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. He received various treatments which included surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy — which was a new kind of cancer treatment at the time — and had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver. A year later, he announced that he didn’t need anymore treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any sign of cancer.
In 2019, Carter was admitted to a hospital in Atlanta to have a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain that was caused by falls he had that year. He was hospitalized twice after two falls in his home in Georgia, hitting his head on a sharp edge in his first fall and received 14 stitches above his brow. After his second fall, he received treatment for a minor pelvic fracture.
Jimmy Carter is the oldest living president at 98. The Democrat served a single term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Regan in 1980.
