Center for Ethics in Health Care Associate Directors (Left to Right): Barbara Glidewell, MBS, Susan Tolle, MD, Ella Booth, MBA, PhD, Geoff Gordon, MD, Mary Denise Smith, RN, MS, CNS and Phyllis Beemsterboer, RDH, EdD
Emphasis
The Center emphasizes three characteristics:
First, it is interdisciplinary. Center members include physicians, nurses, dentists, community members, social workers, chaplains, lawyers, social scientists, and philosophers. With such a broad collective of voices, perspectives and disciplinary traditions, the work of the Center is enriched by a capacity to think and to act broadly.
Second, the Center is committed to outreach to the professional state-wide community and it works closely with a Community Advisory Council and Oregon Health Decisions. By doing so, its work extends well beyond the university's campus and beyond academic discourse and traditions.
Third, the Center has become a champion for humanistic and compassionate health care through stressing patient rights to self-determination and clinician responsibilities to patient advocacy.
Education
Faculty of the Center work together to share curricular resources and collaborate in the design of new ethics courses and university programs. As a University wide center, we are particularly interested in opportunities to bring interdisciplinary vision into the planning and presentation of ethics courses.
Research
The Program of Research on Ethics and End-of-Life Care was developed in response to the pressing national need for research on care of the dying. The Program has received numerous federal and foundation grants for its many studies.
Clinical Consultation
A multidisciplinary team of health care professionals who have training in health care ethics is available to respond to requests for clinical consultation from OHSU staff. For consultation, the health care team can call the Center at 494-4466.
Policy Issues
Ethical issues in contemporary health care reside in social systems as well as in direct relationships between individual patients and their providers. In search of policy level solutions, our faculty analyze institutional and social system factors that affect how to respect patients' rights and needs while pursuing the general good of society.
Collaborative Activities at OHSU
* The Kinsman Lectures: State-wide ethics conferences bring in noted guest speakers. Mr. John Kinsman generously endowed this permanent lectureship.
* The Daniel Labby Senior Clinicians' Seminars: Dr. Labby's vision in conceiving and moderating these invited seminars taps the practical experience of our physicians.
* Brown Bag Ethics Seminars: A series of discussions in a small group format open to all.
* Ethics Conferences: The Center hosts conferences for OHSU and state-wide groups.
* Ethics Consulting: The Center leadership is available for consultation.
Collaborating in the Community
* Coalition of Oregon Ethics Resources (COER): This group of state-wide ethics leaders keeps its constituents up to date regarding current ethics projects and legislation through an e-mail listserve, COERNET, and conferencing.
* The Task Force to Improve the Care of Terminally Ill Oregonians: This Task Force, comprised of health care agencies and organizations, has the goal of improving care in life's final months for all Oregonians.
* The Physician's Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Task Force: Arising from a need identified by ethics leaders state-wide, this task force developed the POLST Program to ensure respect for patients' wishes during transfer from setting to setting. The POLST form is used to record physician orders reflecting patient wishes for life-sustaining treatment and ensure respect for their wishes. Forms and program information are available through the Center.