Creighton University - Center for Health Policy & Ethics

Our Mission

We are...

A multidisciplinary group of scholars dedicated to the study and teaching of ethical dimensions of health care and health policy.

CHPE building


Teaching

In Fall 2009, the Center inaugurated its online Master of Science in Health Care Ethics program. This program provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the field of bioethics and is designed to address the ethical dilemmas inherent in health care and health policy with specific emphasis on vulnerable people. For more information about the program, visit http://www.creighton-online.com/programs/online-masters-degree-in-healthcare-ethics.asp

In addition to the M.S. program, the Center provides education in the ethics of health care practice and policy to Creighton University Medical Center's health professions students, faculty and clinicians. Offerings include required courses in all health sciences degree programs, elective courses, professional experience clerkships and independent study. The Center also sponsors several continuing education programs in conjunction with other Creighton University Medical Center departments and schools throughout the year.


Scholarship

Scholarship at the Center for Health Policy and Ethics responds to the challenge of ethical issues raised by the health care system, patient care, and public health. The multidisciplinary nature of the Center for Health Policy and Ethics encourages a variety of perspectives and resources for topics of scholarly inquiry, conceptual analysis, and discussion. The research interests of the faculty of the Center reflect the stereoscopic vision implied in its name – the ethics of both health policy and health care. Global topics of public policy as well as the traditional details of clinical decision making are addressed.

Areas of substantial research are (1) ethical issues at the end of life, palliative care and chronicity; and (2) issues of justice. Scholarly products of the Center have included guidelines for confidentiality in pediatric AIDS, contributions to the second and third edition of the field’s standard encyclopedia, analyses of values at stake in managed care, health care reform, ethical and legal aspects of home care and hospice, and materials related to the scholarship of teaching and learning in ethics education in all of the health sciences represented on the Creighton campus.

Service

The Center assists professionals, policy makers and the general public in clarifying ethical issues and in making health care and health policy more just and humane. To that end, CHPE conducts workshops, conferences and consultations on ethics and social issues in health care and health policy.

In addition, individual faculty members provide service across CUMC, the University, and the community at large through membership on boards and committees in health care, the health sciences, and the arts.

Attendees at a CHPE Roundtable