Dr. Leslie Kuhnel is the Central Region Vice President of Ethics & Theology for CommonSpirit Health. A current member of the CSH National Ethics & Theology Team, she provides leadership for healthcare ethics initiatives throughout the Central Region states of Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, and North Dakota. In addition to experience in the acute care setting, Dr. Kuhnel has expertise in the application of ethics within the areas of behavioral healthcare, rural healthcare, advanced care planning, end-of-life care, ethics across the lifespan, and research ethics. Her scope of practice has focused primarily on ethics within the Catholic Healthcare setting. She frequently provides ethics education programs across CommonSpirit Health, and for various state, national and international ethics conferences. A highlight of her education program offerings are the "Ethics on the Big Screen" series, attracting participation from healthcare professionals and ethics committee members across CommonSpirit Health's 26 states in a unique multi-media virtual and in-person format.
Dr. Kuhnel completed her Doctoral degree in Bioethics (DBe) at Loyola University-Chicago in 2018 (with an emphasis in Clinical Ethics and Catholic Healthcare Ethics), a Master’s of Science in Health Care Ethics (MSHCE) degree from Creighton University in 2013, and a Master's of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2005. She is certified in Healthcare Ethics Consultation from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, and serves on the national Commission for Healthcare Ethics Certification. She is a long-time member of ASBH. Dr. Kuhnel is an Affiliated Faculty Member with Creighton University, where she teaches leadership and applied ethics in the Ed D program and occasional guest lectures in health sciences for the School of Medicine. She is also member of the Creighton University Institutional Review Board.
Dr. Kuhnel started her career in healthcare helping to develop the Hospice program at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, IA in 1994, and began her work in ethics for CHI Health hospitals in the Omaha/Council Bluffs Metro area in 2002 and became the ethics leader across Nebraska and Iowa in 2006. She was named the Division Vice President of Ethics & Theology for the Midwest Division in 2019, and expanded her role to become the current Central Region Vice President of Ethics & Theology in 2024.