Former President Jimmy Carter has been in hospice care for about a year and a half. He first entered hospice care in February 2023, and now, his grandson, Jason Carter, is giving an update on his grandfather’s health. It’s looking grim.

Jason is the chair of the board of trustees for the Carter Center, a charity organization the former president and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, founded in 1982.

USA Today reports that on Tuesday May 14, 2024, Jason spoke at the Carter Center’s 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, and during his speech, he mentioned his grandfather.

Jason explained, “My grandfather is doing okay. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now.” He continued, “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.”

Hospice care is often associated with a person’s end of life, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be just for that purpose. In this case, the former president, who is 99 years old, has lived quite awhile in hospice care, but it seems that his grandson thinks that his life is truly coming to an end.

In addition to speaking about his grandfather, Jason also spoke about his grandmother, sharing that it has been hard on his grandfather since her death. He shared that her “passing was a difficult moment for all of us – including my grandfather.” Rosalynn died in 2023 at the age of 96 years old.

Previously, Jason told the “Monica Pearson Show” that his grandfather “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.”