Loras Bioethics Resource Center  |  Archdiocese of Dubuque - Healthcare Ethics  

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BIOETHICS RESOURCE CENTER
Loras College
Dubuque, Iowa

Comprehensive Report 
1987-2000

Intellectuals can also do much to build a new culture of human life.  A special task falls to Catholic intellectuals, who are called to be present  and active in the leading centers where culture is formed, in schools and universities, in places of scientific and technological Research, of  artistic creativity and of the study of man.  Allowing their talents and activity to be nourished by the living force of the Gospel, they ought to place themselves at the service of a new culture of life by offering serious and well documented contributions, capable of commanding  general respect and interest by reason of their merit. ...A specific contribution will also have to come from Universities, particularly from  Catholic Universities, and from Centres, Institutes and Committees of Bioethics.   

                                                                                                                Evangelium Vitae

 

Topics covered in Report
Establishment of Growth of the Bioethics Resource Center
Services of the Center
Center Staff 
Grants 
Educational Programs Sponsored by Center 
Service to Healthcare Facilities and Agencies
Service to Churches
Presentations at Conferences and Workshops and Guest Lectures
Presentations to Community Groups
Audio-Visual Resources

     

Establishment and Growth

of the Bioethics Resource Center

  The Bioethics Resource Center was established by approval of the Board of Regents of Loras College in October, 1987 to provide educational programs and supporting services in bioethics for the larger community.  Multidisciplinary in nature, the Center brings together the perspectives of medicine, philosophy, theology, and law in approaching the problems of bioethics.  It operates within the framework of the Catholic moral tradition.  The Center is ecumenical in its service to the community.

  Particular thanks are due to Msgr. James Barta, President of Loras College, and Dr. Kenneth Kraus, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean, for their administrative support of the establishment of this Center.

  Since its establishment in 1987 the Center grown into a regional center for bioethics serving Northeast and Central Iowa as well as the Dubuque tri-state area.

   

Services of the Center  

The Bioethics Resource Center    

 ·        Provides lectures, workshops, and conferences for professionals in healthcare and related fields, and for the general public.  

 ·        Maintains a collection of audio-visual resources for community use. 

 ·        Provides consulting services to healthcare facilities and professionals.

 ·        Provides assistance to healthcare facilities in the establishment of ethics committees.

           

   

Center Staff

  Director  

Since its establishment in 1987 Janine Marie Idziak, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Loras College, has served as director of the Center.  Dr. Idziak received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan (1975) and subsequently earned a M.A. in theology from the University of Notre Dame (1989).  During the summer of 1997 she participated in a ten week summer institute at Dartmouth College on the ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project, funded by the National Institutes of Health.  She is a member of the House of Delegates of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and has served on AAHSA’s Commission on Ethics in Long-Term Care.  She is the author of Ethical Dilemmas in Allied Health and Ethical Dilemmas in Long-Term Care.

   

Loras College Faculty Associates  

Mary Lynn Neuhaus, J.D.  Associate Professor of Communication Arts

Rev. Mark Ressler, S.T.D.  Associate Professor of Religious Studies

   

Community Advisory Board  

Eileen McSperrin, R.N. Mercy Medical Center, Dubuque, IA

Ann E. Michalski, M.A.   Gannon Center and City Council Member, Dubuque, IA

Rev. David Pacholke, M.Div., Th.M.. Director of Pastoral Care, Finley Hospital, Dubuque

Sue Reilly, R.N., B.S.P.A., Faculty, Northeast Iowa Community College, Peosta, IA

Jacquelyn Roth, B.A., M.T.(A.S.C.P.), I.C.P.  Epidemiologist, Finley Hospital, Dubuque,

Dolores Ullrich, OSF, M.A. Administrator, Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA

Barbara Zoeller,M.S.N. Director, Hospice of Dubuque, IA

 

   

Grants  

The Center has received grants from  

  ·        William C. Brown Publishing, Dubuque, IA, for the purchase of videotapes (1988).

  ·        American Legion of Iowa Foundation, for the purchase of videotapes (1989).  

  ·        Medical Associates, Dubuque, IA, for Rev. Michael Place, speaker for the conference  Health Care Ethics: The Work of the Catholic Community (1990).

  ·        Medical Associates, Dubuque, IA, for Rev. James Bresnahan, keynote speaker for the conference Issues in Death and Dying: Ethical, Legal, and Religious Perspectives  (1991).

  ·        Medical Associates, Dubuque, IA, for the program Choices in Death and Dying (1992).

  ·        Wahlert Foundation, Dubuque, IA, for the production of a video on advance directives for high school students (2000).

 

  Educational Programs Sponsored by the Center

  Conferences

·        Health Care Ethics: The Work of the Catholic Community, for the sesquicentennial celebration of Loras College, April 5-7, 1990.  Plenary session speakers included:

            *   Rev. Russell E. Smith, S.T.D. (Director of Education and Associate Director of             Research, Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Center in Braintree, MA), Pastoral              Medicine: An Offspring of the Church.

            *     Rev. Michael D. Place, S.T.D. (Theologian for the Curia of the Archdiocese of             Chicago and chair of the archdiocesan Medical Ethics Commission), Euthanasia:              Ethical and Public Policy Considerations.

  ·        Issues in Death and Dying: Ethical, Legal, and Religious Perspectives, March 26-28, 1992.  Plenary session speakers included:

            *   Rev. James F. Bresnahan, S.J., J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. (Professor of Clinical             Medicine and             Co-director of the Ethics and Human Values in Medicine Program              at Northwestern University Medical School), Appropriate Care of the Dying.

            *     Rev. John Boyle, Ph.D. (School of Religion, University of Iowa), Whether We              Live or Die, We Are the Lord’s.  

            *     Msgr. Charles Fahey (Director of the Third Age Center, Fordham University),              Death and Dying in Long-Term Care: Is the Agenda the Same as in Acute Care?

  ·        Healthcare Ethics for the Third Millennium, March 25-27, 1998.  Plenary session speakers included:

            *   Most. Rev. John McGann, D.D. (Bishop of Rockville Center, New York),              Building Bridges in a Community of Hope.   

            *     Brian O’Toole, Ph.D. (Director of Ethics, Mercy Health Services, Farmington             Hills, Michigan), Ethics Committees in the Third Millennium.

            *     Rev. James F. Bresnahan, S.J., J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus,              Northwestern University Medical School),  An Affirmative Response to Proposals for              Legalizing “Inflicted Death” as Medical Treatment of the Dying: Making Effective             Palliative Medicine a Feature of Medical Care Not Only for the Dying.         

  ·        The Center hosted a national conference Life-Sustaining Treatments: Issues in Ethics and Religion sponsored by the Society of Christian Philosophers, June 8-11, 1988.  The Center’s director served as program chair.

  ·        The Center co-sponsored Toward Healthy Communities: Rural Health Care and Aging, organized by the Rural Ministry Program of Wartburg Seminary and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, March 5-7, 1989.

           

Guest Lectures

  ·        James Pattee, M.D. (University of Minnesota Medical School), Ethical Issues in Long-Term Care: Selected Case Studies.  February 26, 1991.

  ·        Kevin O’Rourke, O.P., J.C.D. (Director, Center for Health Care Ethics, St. Louis University), Assisted Suicide: Private Dispositions and Public Policy.   April 27, 1995.  Co-sponsored by the Ethics Committee of Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, Iowa.

   

Special Courses

·        Health Care for the Elderly: Facing Ethical Dilemmas offered in conjunction with the Church Ministry Institute of Loras College, Manchester, IA, Fall 1989.

 

Workshops offered at Loras College

·        Medical Treatment: Who Decides?  March 8, 1988.

·        Artificial Nutrition and Hydration: Ethical, Legal, and Religious Guidelines March 29, 1988.

·        Caring for the Dying A series of workshops, Spring 1993

            Making Choices about Life-Sustaining Treatments: The Ethical Principles

            Physician Assisted Suicide: Have We Failed in Caring for the Dying?

            Artificial Nutrition and Hydration: The Current Debate.

·        Towards Better Care of The Dying November 3, 1994.  Co-sponsored by the Ethics  Committee of Mercy Health Center, Dubuque.

·        Intensive Workshop on Nursing Ethics: Issues in Death and Dying November 20, 1995

·        Making Ethical Decisions about Futile Medical Treatments December 4, 1995.

·        Helping Caregivers Make Ethical Decisions about Life-Sustaining Treatments December 4, 1995.

·        Everyday Ethics in Long-Term Care December 16, 1996.

·        The Challenge of Resistant Organisms May 20, 1999.  Co-sponsored by Finley Hospital, Dubuque, and the Dubuque Regional Healthcare Ethics Committee.

·        Death and Dying in America The Response of Healthcare Providers A series of four workshops   Septemer 10-13, 2000.

·        Death and Dying in America The Response of the Faith Community A series of foru workshops   September 10-13, 2000.

 

 

Service to Healthcare Facilities and Agencies

  Board and Committee Service

The Center’s director has served on the following boards and committees within the Dubuque community:

·        Board, Mercy Medical Center  1992-present.

·        Board of Directors, Stonehill Care Center/Franciscan Services  1996-present.

·        Ethics Committee, Mercy Medical Center   Member, 1989-92; chair, 1993-99.

·        Institutional Ethics Committee, Mercy Medical Center   1999-present 

·        Clinical Ethics Committee, Mercy Medical Center   1999-present.

·        Ethics Committee, Stonehill Care Center/Franciscan Services   1986-present.

·        Consultant, Ethics Committee, Bethany Home.  1991-present.

·        Planning Committee, Learning Caregiving.  1995-97.

·        Advisory Committee for Sexual Abuse, Sisters of St .Francis of Dubuque. 1995- present.

·        Dubuque Regional Healthcare Ethics Committee. Chair, 1998-present.

 

 

Educational Programming

The Center’s director has given educational programs which have served various healthcare facilities and services. These educational programs have included:

·        Workshops for the management team of Mercy Health Center, Dubuque

            Towards a Deeper Understanding of the CatholicChurch June 6, 1990

            Catholic Social Teaching and Health Care September 18, 1990

            An Introduction to Healthcare Ethics March 20, 1991

            The Patient Self-Determination Act, Advance Directives for Health Care, and Related Issues in Clinical Medical Ethics November 11, 1991

            Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Identity in Healthcare, and Values Based                    Decisionmaking April 16, 1993.

·        The Patient Self-Determination Act and Advance Directives for Healthcare

            Administrative staff of Dubuque area long-term care facilities October 8, 1991

            Nursing staff of Amicare, Dubuque, IA October 23, 1991

            Sponsorship Committee, Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA November 5, 1991

            Nursing staff of Hospice of Dubuque, IA November 6, 1991

 

 

            Staff of Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA November 21, 1991; May 5, 1994.

            Staff of Julien Care Facility, Dubuque, IA January 20, 1992; October 21, 1993;       September 21, 1994.

            Volunteers of Hospice of Dubuque, IA January 23, 1992.

 

·        1994 Revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services

            Board of Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA, March 16, 1995

            Sponsorship Committee of Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA, April 18, 1995

            Board of Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA, April 19, 1995.

   

·        Topical Presentations to Ethics Committees

            Ethical Principles for Issues in Death and Dying Finley Hospital, Dubuque, IA                   November 10, 1995

            Ethical Issues in Pain Management Joint meeting of the ethics committees of             Bethany Home and Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA, November 11, 1995.

            Medical Futility and DNR Orders Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA, April 17,                  1996.

            Ethical Issues in Managed Care, presented for members of ethics committees at the                Catholic healthcare facilities in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Waterloo, IA,                 January 24, 1997.

            Physician Assisted Suicide: Recent Trends in the Debate  Northeast Iowa Regional            Ethics Committee, Oelwein, IA, April 9, 1997.

            Ethical Issues in the New Genetics, presented for members of the ethics committees        at the Catholic healthcare facilities in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Waterloo, IA,                  April 24, 1998.

            Pain Management;   Confidentiality; and  The Future of Ethics Committees:                      Organizational Ethics Northeast Iowa Regional Ethics Committee, Oelwein, IA                    May 27, 1998.

            Risk Taking in Resident Care  Bethany Home, Dubuque, IA September 22, 1998.

            Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Pain Management    Joint meeting of the ethics    committees of Bethany Home and Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA,           October 10, 1998.

            Panelist, Changing Role of Long-Term Care   Joint meeting of the ethics committees

                of Bethany Home and Stonehill Franciscan Services, Dubuque, IA   November          20, 1999.

 

·        Euthanasia and the Living Will, Hospice of Dubuque, May 26, 1988.

·        Pain Management, for the staff of Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, IA, February 24, 1994.

·        The Ethics of End of Life Treatment Decisions, for the staff of Sunnycrest Manor, Dubuque, IA, March 6, 1996.

·        Research Ethics presented for the CME program, Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA, September 24, 1997.

·        Ordinary/Extraordinary Treatment: Where Do We Go From Here?”  Four presentations for the Covenant Health System, May 11, 1999

            * Medical Staff, Covenant Medical Center, Waterloo, IA.

             * Nursing  Staff,  Allied  Health  Staff, and Pastoral  Care  Staff,  Mercy Hospital                            of Franciscan Sisters, Oelwein, IA.

            * Medical Staff, Mercy Hospital of Franciscan Sisters, Oelwein, IA.

            * Nursing Staff and Pastoral Care Staff, Covenant Medical Center, Waterloo, IA.

 

·        A Fair and Just Workplace Independence, IA, December 7, 1999.  A workshop on unionization in healthcare presented for senior management of Catholic healthcare facilities in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, the leadership of sponsoring religious communities, and senior staff of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

 

             

Establishment of Ethics Committees

  The Center’s director has provided assistance to the following facilities in establishing ethics committees and ethics consultation programs:

·        Calvin Manor, Des Moines 1991, 1993-94

·        Crestridge, Maquoketa, IA 1993-94

·        Mercy Hospital of Franciscan Sisters, Oelwein, IA for the Northeast Iowa Regional Ethics Committee 1995

·        Presbyterian Village Care Center, Ackley, IA 1998

·        Iowa Veterans Home, Marshalltown, IA   1998-99

 

  In 1998 the Center established the Dubuque Regional Healthcare Ethics Committee as a service for facilities and agencies in the tri-state area which do not have their own ethics committee.  Participating facilities and agencies include:

·        Area Residential Care, Dubuque

·        Bethany Home, Dubuque

·        Dubuque Nursing and Rehab Center, Dubuque

·        Ennoble Manor Care Center, Dubuque

·        Galena-Stauss Hospital and Nursing Care Facility, Galena, IL

·        Heritage Manor, Dubuque

·        Hospice of Dubuque

·        Manor Care Health Services, Dubuque

·        Orchard Manor, Lancaster, WI

·        Sunnycrest Manor, Dubuque

 

 

Service to Churches

Commission Memberships and Consulting Positions

·        Since 1988 the Center’s director has served as chair of  the  Medical-Moral Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.  A major project of the Commission is the ongoing production of Church Teaching on Health Care Ethics   A Handbook of Policies for the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

·        Since 1996 the Center’s director has served as Health Care Consultant for the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

·        The Center’s director served as a consultant to the Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, IA, for revision of the congregation’s advance directive forms.  1998-99.

 

  Curricular Programs

·        Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART)  Moral Principles of the Catholic Tradition

            High school level educational program (Dubuque, IA: Archdiocese of Dubuque,             2000).

   

Pamphlets

·        Treating Infertility and Assisting Reproduction Guidance from the Catholic Moral Tradition (Dubuque, IA: Archdiocese of Dubuque, 2001).

   

Educational Programming

  The Center’s director has provided the following programs as part of the Center’s service to the community:

·        How to Start an Ethics Committee, and Why and The Problem of Artificial Nutrition and Hydration presented at a retreat for the administrators and chaplains of the Lutheran Association of Nursing Homes in Iowa, Strawberry Point, IA, November 12, 1988.

·        Member of program committee and presenter for Health Care Ethics: Church Teaching and Pastoral Ministry, clergy convocation for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, June 11- 14, 1990.

·        Ethical Issues in Death and Dying and   Advance Directives, Motherhouse of the

            Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, IA, July 19, 1990.

·        Co-presenter with Fr. John Boyle (University of Iowa School of Religion) of a workshop on healthcare ethics for a joint meeting of the Catholic bishops and major superiors of religious communities in the State of Iowa, New Melleray Abbey, Peosta, IA  October 10-11, 1990.

·        Presentation on healthcare ethics for a meeting of Catholic Charities, Waterloo, IA, March 22, 1991.

·        Co-presenter, Ethical Issues in Death and Dying, for pastoral associates in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Waterloo, IA, April 16, 1991.

·        Co-presenter, Ethics of Suicide, CCD class, Sacred Heart Church, Monticello, IA, October 23, 1991.

·        The Patient Self-Determination Act and Advance Directives for Health Care presented

            for the annual clergy luncheon at Mercy Health Center, Dubuque , IA, November 8,             1991.

·        Co-presenter,  Advance Directives, New Melleray Abbey, Peosta, IA November 18, 1991.

·        Advance Directives for Health Care presented at the Evangelical Free Church, Platteville, WI, October 4, 1992.

·        The Perspective of the Churches on Death and Dying: Comparative Religious Perspectives presented at Choices in Death and Dying: A Religious Perspective, Dubuque, IA, November 15, 1992.

·        Ethical Issues in Long-Term Care presented for area clergy at Luther Manor as part of national pastoral care week, Dubuque, IA, October 26, 1993.

·        Care of the Dying presented at the annual clergy luncheon at Mercy Health Center, Dubuque, IA, October 27, 1993.

·        Church teaching on death and dying, Theresians, Dubuque, IA, December 3, 1993.

·        Some Reflections on the Spirituality of Death and Dying, Serra Club, Dubuque, IA February  23, 1994.

·        Presentation on death and dying issues and advance directives for the Stephen Ministry program at the First Congregational Church, Dubuque, IA, March 29, 1994.

·        Presentation on the care of the dying to senior citizen groups at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Bellevue, IA, October 21, 1994.

·        Catholic Moral Teaching on Reproductive Technologies presented to the Infertility Support Group, Resurrection Church, Dubuque, IA  April 18, 1995.

·        Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide and The 1994 Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services for pastoral care staff of Catholic healthcare facilities in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Cedar Falls, IA, October 13, 1995.

·        When Patients/Residents and Caregivers Disagree about Medical Treatment, presented for the staff of the infirmaries of the Catholic religious communities in Dubuque, IA, October 18, 1995.

·        Healthcare Ethics: Issues at the End of Life Diaconate Formation Program, Archdiocese of Dubuque  September 14, 1996.

·        Issues in reproductive and genetic medicine; issues in social ethics and healthcare, Diaconate Formation Program, Archdiocese of Dubuque  October 12, 1996.

·        Issues in Death and Dying: Ethical and Pastoral Perspectives, Waterloo, IA,  jointly sponsored by the three hospitals in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA as part of national pastoral care week, October 23, 1996.

·        Forgoing Life-Sustaining Treatments, Euthanasia, and Assisted Suicide   CCD class, St. Joseph’s Church, Sinsinawa, WI   November 13, 1996.

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