Presented on August 12, 2021
In our ongoing commitment to provide timely, relevant information about emerging issues for Catholic health care, the Catholic Health Association is offering a monthly series of webinars to address critical ethical issues in caring for patients and families in Catholic hospitals, long-term care facilities and medical centers nationwide.

Each 45-minute session will examine the implications of a specific critical issue in clinical and organizational ethics in the context of Catholic Social Teaching and the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs). Moderators of the series are Brian M. Kane, Ph.D., CHA senior director, ethics; and Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, Ph.D., CHA director, ethics.

Presented with the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Care Leadership, Loyola University Chicago

Session Description: How should we care for patients who have no legal health care proxy and have lost decisional capacity? Often, these unrepresented patients are subject to the assignment of a court-appointed guardian, who may not be the most ideal person to speak about an unfamiliar patient's best interests. Paul Hutchison, MD, MA, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, will explore an alternative pathway and the ethical constraints of this approach.