About Center for Ethics in Health Care

OHSU’s Center for Ethics in Health Care was founded in 1989 with a clear and compelling purpose: to bring justice, compassion, and respect to every aspect of health care in our community.

The scope of the Center’s work has expanded far beyond the early dreams of its founders, to include:

  • Innovative education programs for current and future generations of health care professionals throughout the state
  • A leading national role in transforming care at the end of life, in particular through the development of the ground-breaking Portable Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program which is now available in most states nationwide as well as a number of other countries
  • Policy change to address pressing issues such as conflict of interest and access to health care
  • Research to support important health care reform

Always, at the heart of the Center’s work, is the paramount importance of honoring the needs and dignity of patients and their families.