Jump to content

Choose locationChoose Location
  • Sign in or Enroll
    • Open I want to choose my medical group or hospital
    • Clear my location
Change Location

We've expanded your view

You are now viewing all services in the Sutter Health network. You can change your location above to narrow your view to a medical group, hospital, city or zip.
Sutter Health
  • Video Visits
  • Find Doctors
  • Find Locations
  • Treatments & Services
  • Locations
  • Sign in or Enroll
    • Video Visits
    • Find Doctors
    • Find Locations
    • Treatments & Services
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Symptom Checker
    • Get Care Today
    • Diseases & Conditions
    • Health & Wellness
    • Classes & Events
    • Research & Clinical Trials
    • For Patients
    • About Sutter Health
    • Giving
    • Volunteering
    • Careers
    • News
    • For Medical Professionals
    • Other Business Services
Close Search
  • Home
  • Services
  • Bioethics
  • Organizational Ethics
Content

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.

Handshake

Contact the Bioethics Program

Call our Ethics Hotline (415) 600-3991 or email ethics@sutterhealth.org.

Ethics for Healthcare Companies

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

Woman on laptop

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

  • Advance Directives
  • End-of-Life Option Act
  • Patient Rights and Responsibilities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

Services Near You

CPMC Davies Campus | 45 Castro Street

CPMC Davies Campus | 45 Castro Street

45 Castro Street

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 600-6000

CPMC Pacific Heights Outpatient Center | 2333 Buchanan Street

CPMC Pacific Heights Outpatient Center | 2333 Buchanan Street

2333 Buchanan Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

(415) 600-6000

CPMC Mission Bernal Campus

CPMC Mission Bernal Campus

3555 Cesar Chavez Street

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 600-6000

View All Related Locations

The Sutter Health Network of Care
Expertise to fit your needs
Primary Care

Check-ups, screenings and sick visits for adults and children.

Specialty Care

Expertise and advanced technologies in all areas of medicine.

Emergency Care

For serious accidents, injuries and conditions that require immediate medical care.

Urgent Care

After-hours, weekend and holiday services.

Walk-In Care

Convenient walk-in care clinics for your non-urgent health needs.

About Sutter

  • About Our Network
  • Annual Report
  • Awards
  • Community Benefit
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Giving
  • Find Care

  • Birth Centers
  • Care Centers
  • Emergency Rooms
  • Hospitals
  • Imaging
  • Labs
  • Surgery Centers
  • Urgent Care
  • Walk-In Care
  • View All >
  • Featured Services

  • Behavioral Health
  • Cancer Services
  • Family Medicine
  • Home Health and Hospice
  • Orthopedics
  • Pediatrics
  • Pregnancy
  • Primary Care
  • Women's Health
  • View All >
  • Patient Resources

  • Accepted Health Plans
  • Classes and Events
  • Estimate Costs
  • Flu Resources
  • Health and Wellness
  • Medical Records
  • Medicare
  • My Health Online
  • Pay a Bill
  • Symptom Checker
  • Our Team

  • For Employees
  • Physician Careers
  • Recruiting Events
  • Sutter Careers
  • Vendors
  • Volunteers
    • ADA Accessibility
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

    • LinkedIn Opens new window
    • YouTube Opens new window
    • Facebook Opens new window
    • Twitter Opens new window
    • Glassdoor Opens new window
    • Instagram Opens new window

    Copyright © 2021 Sutter Health. All rights reserved. Sutter Health is a registered trademark of Sutter Health ®, Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark office.

    Cookie Policy

    We use cookies to give you the best possible user experience. By clicking on "Accept Cookies", closing this pop-up banner or by continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Privacy Policy   Cookie Preferences