CPMC Organizational Ethics

The Program in Medicine and Human Values works closely with Sutter hospitals and administrators to identify systems-level bioethics issues and develops solutions that serve both patients and staff. This includes bioethics policy development.

Sometimes ethical questions arise at an institutional level rather than an individual patient level. The team at the Program in Medicine and Human Values have experience to help. PMHV bioethicists work closely with Sutter Health hospitals and administrators to develop solutions and policies to address systemic issues. The goal is to help close institutional ethics gaps to improve healthcare quality.

Addressing Moral Distress

PMHV strives to address staff distress when dealing with complex patient situations. Our team members find early intervention options, answer questions and help hospital personnel decompress in the face of troubling circumstances.

We offer:

Staff debriefing sessions to discuss complex cases.
Involvement in hospital team rounds.
Initiatives to reduce doctor, nurse and staff distress.

Improving Healthcare Quality

Enhancing healthcare means improving not only scientific, technical and service quality, but also ethics quality. It requires assuring that clinical and management practices consistently adhere to widely accepted ethics standards, norms and expectations. PMHV works with organizations to identify ethics gaps at the system level and develop solutions for quality improvement.

For information on policies and organizational ethics initiatives, email ethics@sutterhealth.org.

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.”