Supportive Voice Vol. 10 No. 4 Spring 2005
Chairperson's Column
by Dan O'Brien
Dan O'Brien is Vice President, Ethics, Ascension Health, St. Louis.
In 2005, we are indeed facing a year of transition. In the middle of 2004, our executive director, Sylvia McSkimming, PhD, RN, announced to the board her plans to retire in mid-2005. We were not shocked, as Sylvia had been hinting at her intentions for several months. But we were no less saddened to think that we will soon "lose" our visionary, inspirational leader, who has been an indefatigable advocate for cultural and system change and for continuous quality improvement in the care of all persons and families living with life-threatening illness.
We know we will never really "lose" Sylvia, but she will certainly be freed to enjoy a well-deserved retirement where she can spend more time with her family and friends. We are all extraordinarily indebted to her and most grateful for all that she has done to make known, all across our country, the voice and vision of the Coalition on behalf of the most vulnerable persons among us, bringing people together in transformational conversations about successful practices of compassionate quality care.
We also give thanks for the strong leadership of Bridget Carney, PhD, RN, who recently completed her two-year term as our board chairperson. As both a clinician and an ethicist, Bridget helped to keep the board well grounded and focused on its research and education tasks. We will continue to benefit from Bridget's wisdom and experience as she carries on her role as one of PeaceHealth's representatives on the board.
Executive Director Search Process
The executive committee of the board—composed of Gretchen Elliot, RSM, vice-chair, members-at-large Mary Davidson, MSN, RN and Fr. Bob Lampert, PhD, and myself—has been busy pursuing an aggressive search process, currently scheduled to come to a conclusion in the late spring. We received numerous applications from an impressive array of quality candidates, and are in the process of narrowing our search to the finalists who will be interviewed by the full board at our April meeting.
New Challenges Before Us
And so, we begin a new year, inspired by the leadership of Sylvia, grateful to God for the work that has been accomplished, and energized by the challenges that lay before us. On one side, we are challenged by those who believe that physical life must be preserved with every available means and at all costs. On the other side, we are challenged by those who believe that life has value only when it is youthful and healthy and vibrant. It strikes me that both of these extremes miss the mark; both lack a holistic view of the human person.
Hollywood is a great barometer of our larger culture. The fact that Million Dollar Baby has captured the imaginations of so many is a sobering reminder of how much work we have to do in educating both professionals and the public about successful practices of quality care, about the rights of patients to refuse unwanted treatments, and about the need to connect people with each other in order to form caring communities.
Sadly, in the face of changing demographics, rapidly aging baby boomers, skyrocketing health care costs, inappropriate uses of resources, fearful physicians who don't know what to do in the face of death, out of control liability expenses, an overstressed nursing force, and 45 million uninsured, I fear that we only will be diverted further from genuine health care reform by all the thrust for legalizing physician-assisted suicide. Integral to the reform that is needed is a renewed emphasis on making continuous improvements in palliative care available to all from the first onset of life-threatening illness, and not just at the end of life. We in the Coalition have our work cut out for us.