UK HealthCare Ethics Committee

The UK HealthCare Ethics Committee, a multidisciplinary standing committee that includes members from all UK hospitals, reports to the Medical Staff Executive Committee.

The main charges of the Ethics Committee are to review or generate policy and run the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service.

The committee meets the first Monday of each month. Email the chair to recommend an agenda item or inquire about membership.

Committee Members

Committee members are appointed for two-year terms, unless they are also serving as active members of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service. In that case, their service will continue as long as they are active members of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service.

Co-chairs

M. Sara Rosenthal, PhD, HEC-C, Professor and Director, UK Program for Bioethics;
James McCormick, MD, Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

  • Emily Bradford, PhD
  • Caroline Buchanan, PhD, HEC-C*
  • Joey Burke, MSN, MFA, RN*
  • Claire Clark, PhD, MPH
  • Todd Coté, MD
  • Kristy Deep, MD, MA‡
  • Megan Payne, RN, BSN
  • Stephanie Fugate, MSN, APRN-ACNP
  • Jay Fulton, MDiv, BCC
  • Ricki Goldstein, MD
  • Rev. Dr. Cam Holzer, BCC
  • Natalie Houghton, DO
  • Katie Maddy, PhD, CCC-SLP
  • Brandy Mathews, MSN, MHA, RN
  • James McCormick, MD‡ (Co-Chair)
  • Pep Peppiatt, MD‡
  • Lindsay Ragsdale, MD
  • Hillary Rieger, MA, MS, LCGC
  • M. Sara Rosenthal, PhD, HEC-C* (Chair)
  • Robert Slocum, PhD, DDiv
  • Shawn Sorrell, MD
  • Tammy Swartz, MSN/Ed, RN
  • Jeffrey Tuttle, MD‡
  • Horacio Zaglul, MD

* Indicates members who are serving as clinical ethics consultants.
‡ Indicates members who are providing peer review for chart notes.

Background

The term "hospital ethics committee" first appeared in the Karen Quinlan decision in 1976 (In re Quinlan, 70 N.J. 10; 355 A.2d 647). The decision recommended that future such cases go before a "hospital 'Ethics Committee' or like body of the institution."

In 1983, the U.S. President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical Research endorsed the use of hospital ethics committees, followed by endorsement by the American Medical Association in 1985.

In 1992, The Joint Commission required that hospitals have an "independent ethics mechanism" to address ethical issues in clinical care, which resulted in the establishment of clinical ethics consultation at institutions accredited by the Joint Commission.