The Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia is co-sponsoring the Georgia POLST Conference May 6, 2013.
We hope that you will make plans to join us as we discuss implementation.
Registration at this event: www.georgiahealthdecisions.org
2013 Georgia POLST Conference
The Westin Buckhead Atlanta
Monday, May 6, 2013
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Registration & Check-in
10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. - Key Note Address: POLST-A National Perspective
Patricia A. Bomba, MD, FACP
Vice President and Medical Director, Geriatrics
Excellus BlueCross BluShield
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. - POLST in Georgia: A Case Study
Carol Babcock
Medical Center of Georgia
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. - Lunch (provided)
1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. - Implementing POLST at Your Organization: Barriers, Opportunities and Pathways
Moderator: Kathy Kinlaw, MDiv
Associate Director Center for Ethics
Emory University
3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Next Steps for POLST in Georgia
Richard Cohen, MD
Ethics Committee chairman
Wellstar Health System
4:00 p.m. - Adjourn
Continuing Education (CE) Credits
GHPCO is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Alabama Board of Nursing Practice, #ABNP1402, expires 9-15-16. An application for 4.75 CORE continuing education clock hours has been sent to NASW-GA for social work licensing purposes.
The 2013 HCECG Annual Conference held at the Emory Conference Center Hotel was a success with approximately 150 attendees. Thanks to everyone who attended.
To view videos of our Keynote Speaker Sister Carol Keehan and Speaker Otis Brawley, please click on the following link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/center-for-ethics-special/id422858597
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Dr. Carl Hug - 2013 Heroes in Healthcare Ethics Award Recipient
March 22, 2013
Dr. Carl Hug, MD, PhD was the 2013 Heroes in Healthcare Ethics Award Recipient from the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia.
Dr. Hug is Professor of Anesthesiology, Emeritus in the Emory University School of Medicine. Carl Hug received a PhD in pharmacology and an MD degree from the University of Michigan and completed his Anesthesiology residency training at Emory. For 30+ years, he has served as an anesthesiologist and intensivist in Emory University Hospitals and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Atlanta. His service as a Faculty Affiliate at the Emory University Center for Ethics began in 1999; he teaches Clinical Ethics to students, residents, staff and lay groups. Dr. Hug serves on the Emory University Hospital Ethics Committee and the conference planning committee for HCECG. He is a former President and Director of the American Board of Anesthesiology. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists in 2002 and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 2006.
The Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia (HCECG) and the Emory University Center for Ethics are pleased to announce the Second Year of the Healthcare Ethics Leadership Academy. This 18-month certificate program is designed for physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, healthcare administrators, lawyers and others who seek to enhance their knowledge and skills in healthcare ethics.
Please view the attachments for more information.

Kathy Kinlaw is Associate Director of the Emory University Center for Ethics and Director of the Center's Program in Health Sciences and Ethics. She serves as Bioethics Associate in Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine; and Executive Director of the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia.

A few weeks ago I was sitting in the physicians work area at 2 AM. I was waiting for the delivery of a high risk preterm infant that was expected to be imminent. I passed the time catching up on some charting and reading an article, and as I sat there, I was struck by the fact that I was all by myself. My residents had previously said goodnight and scurried off to their call rooms for a nap. It was ironic to me that they felt the need to sleep; after all, this was only a 12 hour shift for them. I would round on the unit the next morning and continue caring for patients until 4pm, when my partner would come for sign-out. And yet they slept and I didn’t; they had a call room and I didn’t. In that moment I felt like an old soul from a different generation even though I have only been an attending physician for 4 years. Sure this wasn’t walking uphill both ways in the snow, but I could claim the medical equivalent of that feat, having trained to a large degree before the enforcement of the physician duty hours.
Marian Osborne photo courtesy of Carlton Mackey
Marian Osborne, who worked with HCECG for many years, has taken on the role of Human Resource Coordinator for the Center for Ethics and Academic Program Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Bioethics program. Though she will be moving away from her official responsibilities with the Consortium, we are grateful that she remains close by at the Center and we are very happy for her as she accepts her new roles. Marian has been an important part of the HCECG family, working hard to help in many phases of the Consortium’s life: membership renewal, event registration, website updating, problem solving, and much more. Each of us has benefited from the chance to work with her, and her thoughtful, welcoming spirit will be missed. Please join us in thanking Marian for her important work.
Dianne Becht photo courtesy of Ms. Becht
As Marian leaves, we welcome Dianne Becht to the work of the Center for Ethics and HCECG. Dianne joins us after 24 years at Georgia State University’s Department of Chemistry. Please welcome Dianne as you begin to work with her. (Dianne.becht@emory.edu)
We sat down with Michael Arenson, a student in the master’s of
Bioethics program housed at Emory’s Center for Ethics, to talk about how
ethics plays into public health. Arenson’s goal is to help facilitate
more collaborations and conversations that include both ethics and
public health. He says that,“ethics is often viewed as something to be
complied with before public health can do its work, but both ethics and
public health are at their best when ethics becomes more a part of the
process instead of the oversight of public health.” In considering a
dual major in Bioethics and Public Health, Arenson sat down with Kathy
Kinlaw of the Center for Ethics to talk about possibilities. During this
conversation, the Public Health Ethics Organization was conceived. With
co-founder Andrea Fletcher, a Masters of Public Health student at
Emory, the organization is gaining momentum. They took off by organizing
a packed panel discussion on the Troy Davis verdict. The intention of
the organization, Arenson notes, is to be a “nexus for
multi-disciplinary collaboration.” Pairing ethics with public health, to
Arenson, “makes sense because, in the words of Paul Root Wolpe, all
ethics really is, is a conversation,” and this conversation must be a
part of every aspect of public health.
Look out for the Public Health Ethics Organization on facebook
or email at phethics@emory.edu!

Join the conversation: Do religious values have a critical impact on the average individual's medical decisions?
As part of our mission to broadcast our activities and initiatives as well as garner community involvement, we will now be posting regular blog articles on the front page of this website. As an organization based on community collaboration and housed at the Center for Ethics at Emory, it is our goal to employ innovative approaches to engage with communities throughout Georgia. The articles will reflect a diverse array of issues and will include perspectives from health care providers, health care advocates, scholars, experts and patients as well. This blog will be a forum for anyone who is concerned about health care in Georgia to find out more and join the conversation. If you wish to contribute to the blog please contact Kathy Kinlaw (kkinlaw@emory.edu) or Catherine Powell (chpowel@emory.edu) with your ideas.
Senate Bill 367, which addresses a process for consent for surgical or medical treatment for a patient who 1) does not have decision making capacity and 2) who lacks a family member or other surrogate authorized under Georgia law, has been signed by the Governor and will go into effect July 1, 2010. The full article can be found in the attachment below. The full text of the bill can be found online: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10pdf/sb367.pdf
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