CPMC Clinical Ethics Consultations

Dealing with disease can be difficult and emotional. Illness raises concerns that strike at the heart of personal values and goals. Resources are available to help you constructively navigate these challenging issues. Speak with a compassionate and experienced bioethics professional.

Navigating Difficult Healthcare Decisions

When illness strikes, patients, families and healthcare providers often face difficult and complex decisions. It is critical that any discussion about treatment options include a dialogue of one’s personal values and goals. That’s where a Clinical Ethics Consultation can help. The Program in Medicine and Human Values’ professionally trained bioethics consultants respond directly to consultation requests and provide practical recommendations regarding ethically appropriate care.

An ethics consultation can assist when:

You’re experiencing an ethical dilemma about your care or the care of a loved one.
You and your family or support network have conflicts around care goals.
You or a loved one are not able to make medical decisions and have no healthcare decision maker to act on your behalf.
You need help to identify a healthcare decision-maker proxy.
You, your loved one or a healthcare decision maker needs support or assistance in deciding about complex treatment choices.
You are facing a challenging healthcare situation that leads to distress or suffering.

All requests are confidential. Requestors may choose to remain anonymous.

To request a consultation, please email ethics@sutterhealth.org or use our Ethics Hotline (415) 600-3991.

Patient Information

Interested in the intersection of medicine and ethics? Here are some resources.

Provider Perspectives

The Program in Medicine and Human Values helps healthcare providers—and you—by offering support and guidance through challenging medical situations.

Robert Margolin, M.D.

“Having served on CPMC’s Ethics Committee for the past 10 years, I have been constantly impressed with the quality of care our Ethics Service provides. In our high tech, fast-paced medical environment, we often lose track of the toll it can take on providers, patients, and families."

Ursula Boynton, M.D.

“ABSMC is excited to have Sutter Health Bay Area’s Program in Medicine and Human Values expand the Bioethics Service to our hospital in 2019. When we face challenging ethical issues, we will now have the support of a professionally qualified bioethicist with subject matter expertise.”

Veronica Jordan, M.D.

“Our professional bioethicist has been a consistent, kind, and knowledgeable presence on our inpatient medicine service at SSRRH. She has empowered us to understand our role in assessing a patient’s capacity and to know when to ask for help in tricky situations.”

Brandon Lee Finkbeiner, M.D.

“The Ethics Service has been able to help me care for my patients who, due to circumstance, don’t have a voice. Situations arise that are difficult to navigate when patients are unable to express their wishes, and the bioethicist has been great at giving structure, language, and insight to build critical dialogue.”

Janet Essman, LCSW

"Bioethics is essential in facilitating appropriate care plans for unrepresented patients who often tend to have prolonged hospital stays due to delays in decision making. Bioethics is often present in complex care conferences to help guide toward appropriate decisions with patient rights and wishes at the forefront of their care."

Suzanne Pertsch, M.D.

"The Bioethics Service at Mills Peninsula Health Center is a vital support to our palliative care, ICU, specialty, and hospitalist teams in guiding difficult discussions and building consensus through partnering with patients, their families and caretakers."