Our Ethics Committee is here to support and educate our members and our medical staff about the ethical aspects of medical care. We provide a setting for the consideration of medical ethical issues.

What does the Ethics Committee do?

One of our goals at Kaiser Permanente is to provide health care that respects the dignity and privacy of our members and their families.

Our Ethics Committee helps us meet this goal by providing a forum for the identification and discussion of ethical and social questions arising from the delivery of health care. The committee is especially concerned with issues related to the responsibility of providing care in a humane manner that respects the dignity and privacy of patients and their families. The committee offers a means for members and medical staff to come together when medical conflicts and ethical questions arise. The Ethics Committee can help to clarify options and discuss recommendations in a safe, non-judgmental atmosphere. For example, family members may disagree about what to do for an unconscious relative who is on life support. Or a patient may decline medical care because of personal beliefs, while the physician may believe it is his or her duty to give the treatment.

The committee can help in these ways:

• Promote discussion between groups in conflict and help clarify their choices and options
• Recommend courses of action for patients and families to consider
• Help Kaiser Permanente members and their medical teams come to an agreement about what to do

The committee also reviews internal staff education and policy issues concerning:

• Patients' rights
• Withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining care
• "Do not attempt resuscitation" orders
• Conflict resolution

The recommendations of the committee are nonbinding and are in no way intended to replace or jeopardize the physician-patient relationship. Decisions about your care are still up to you and your physician.

Who is on the Ethics Committee? Physicians, nurses, chaplains, social workers, other staff members, and non-staff members from the community sit on the committee.

Contacting the Ethics Committee Anyone, including patients and their families, may refer a case to the Ethics Committee.

If you would like to contact the Ethics Committee, please leave a message for Hayward, at (510) 784-6456 or for Fremont at (510) 248-7153 and provide the following information:

• Your name and how to reach you (include times)
• The patient's name and location/room number
• The patient's Medical Record Number
• The names of physicians and other members of the medical team involved with the patient's care
• A brief description of your concern or ethical issue

The voicemail is checked Monday through Friday, except on holidays, and responded to in a timely fashion. When we call back, we will ask you questions to gather details about your concerns, such as:

• A brief description of the case, including the patient's diagnosis
• Information about key people in the patient's life, including family members, significant others, and friends
• Information about applicable legal documents, such as advance directives or conservatorship documents

The committee members will gather information and conduct preliminary interviews. Committee members will then meet personally with interested parties, as needed.

Disclaimer
If you think you have a MEDICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or go to the nearest hospital. DO NOT attempt to access emergency care through this web site. An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to your bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. An emergency medical condition is also "active labor," which means a labor when there is inadequate time for safe transfer to a Plan hospital (or designated hospital) before delivery or if a transfer poses a threat to the health of the member or unborn child.

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