Jimmy Carter's grandson says he is 'coming to the end' after over a year in hospice care

Jason Carter, former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson, gave an update on his grandfather’s health on Tuesday, saying that he’s “coming to the end.”

“My grandfather is doing okay. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now,” Jason Carter said at the 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum at the Carter Center. Jason Carter is the chair of the board of trustees for the global charity established by former president and former first lady Rosalynn Carter in 1982.

Jimmy Carter, 99, entered hospice care in February 2023. Though hospice care is often associated with the immediate end of a person’s life, it’s not always a short-term option. The Carter Center announced last year that the former president would not receive “additional medical intervention.”

“He really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end, and I think he has been there in that space,” Jason Carter said Tuesday.

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The former president’s eldest grandson also spoke about the death of his grandmother, saying that her “passing was a difficult moment for all of us – including my grandfather.”

Rosalynn Carter died last year at age 96. Jason Carter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that his grandfather spent hours saying goodbye to his wife at the end of her life.

“He had this opportunity to say goodbye, and after that, he was just totally at peace with it. And it was an incredible thing after 77 years of marriage to watch that type of closure,” he told the “Monica Pearson Show.”

Jimmy Carter attended Rosalynn Carter’s memorial services last year, though he was not well enough to speak at the tributes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Carter's grandson says former president is 'coming to the end'