Tibbles Appointed to the Ohio Health Ethics Advisory Committee for Community-Based Services

August 28, 2007

Professor Lance Tibbles, Director of the Ethics Institute at Capital University Law School, has been appointed to the Ohio Health Ethics Advisory Committee for Community-Based Services. This multi-disciplinary Committee is one of five Ethics Committees for Ohio Health (Riverside, Grant, Doctors West, & Grady Hospitals) and is made up of both employees and community members. The Committee serves the lines of service for HomeReach - hospice, skilled homecare, medical equipment, and infusion – as well as the Gerlach Senior Health Center for patients in non-acute settings.

The Ohio Health Ethics Advisory Committee for Community-Services has three primary roles: (1) Education about ethical issues for the members and staff of HomeReach and the Gerlach Senior Health Center; (2) Case consultations for patients served in the community-based settings involving issues of safety in the home, autonomy, ethical conflicts between the patient/family and the staff or between patients and families; & (3) Review of organizational policies, often recommending guidelines to Ohio Health management.

The Committee has recently considered the ethical considerations involved in the supplying and discontinuing oxygen in the home setting, offering futile treatment, projecting the impact of the impact of pandemic flu on the central Ohio community, and providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care to diverse populations.

Professor Tibbles also continues to serve on the Honoring Wishes Task Force of the Ohio Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, the Capital University Institutional Review Board, and the Columbus Children’s Hospital Institutional Review Board.