It is our distinct pleasure to announce that fellow hospitalist, Dr. Caroline Kahle, Assistant Professor of Medicine, has been named Chair of the BJH Ethics Committee.
“The Barnes-Jewish Hospital ethics consultation team provides guidance on challenging issues such as those related to end-of-life care, the application of advanced directives and surrogate decision making. Consultations may be requested by family members of the patient or by any individual involved in the patient’s care.
The role of medical ethics consultation is to provide a forum for the discussion of patient-related ethical issues. Such consultations may be requested by any of the patient’s health care providers, by the patient or by the patient’s family.
The ethics committee consists of representatives from many patient care and service areas throughout the hospital as well as members of the local community. Its mission is to further the delivery of excellent health care. The ethics committee strives to accomplish this mission by:
- educating members of the medical center, the community and themselves about bioethical issues
- providing medical ethics case consultations regarding a specific patient’s care
- providing advice on the ethical dimensions of existing hospital policies or proposing new bioethics policies to the Medical Executive Committee” *
* For more information on the BJH Ethics Committee, please visit the webiste.