Analysis_of_a_Critical_Situation

Analysis of a Critical Regulatory Issue in Health Care Alfreda Bostick HCS/430 December 5, 2011 Lori Lewellen Analysis of a Critical Regulatory Issue in Health Care There are many types of critical regulatory issues that trouble the medical field. Never has anything been more important that the critical regulatory issue been more important than dealing with life or death. When a situation of this nature arises, a person must follow his or her own morals. The case of a woman that is 11 weeks pregnant desiring immediate health care involves an entire hospitals religious beliefs for her life makes the decision that more difficult. This paper is going to assess a situation of this nature in St. Joseph’s Hospital of Phoenix where such a decision suffered and caused complications. St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is known nationally for their neurological department. Even though St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center has treated high profile patients such as Brett Michaels and Muhammad Ali even though they have not gained the publicity for St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, as a woman that was 11 weeks pregnant needing treatment back in November, 2009. Although St. Joseph’s hospital is recognized nationally for their neurology department they have a wonderful obstetrics department, and here is where the woman was treated (St. Joseph’s Hospital, 2011). Sister Margaret McBride was forced to make a decision between her faith and the woman’s life in 2009. This woman was 27 years of age and a mother of four. When rushed to the hospital, she was 11 weeks pregnant. Mary Jo McDonald says that McBride prayed and prayed and was sure this was like a ton of bricks on McBride’s shoulders. This woman was suffering from pulmonary hypertension. This was an illness the doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital believed would kill her and her unborn child if she did not abort the pregnancy (Harris, 2010). McBride was a key member of the hospital’s ethics board. Back on November, 2009, she gathered with doctors to discuss this young woman’s situation. In the end, McBride chose to authorize an emergency abortion to save this woman’s life. This decision forced McBride out of her job and out of the Catholic Church (Harris, 2010). St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center is affiliated with the Catholic Church and faced a lot of questions over the abortion, which happened in November, 2009. Sister Margaret Mary McBride was the hospital’s vice president of mission integration, a member of the committee, including patients and doctors who made the decision for the abortion to save the ladies life. McBride okayed the abortion and because of the Catholic Church beliefs she was reassigned to new duties (Ertett, 2010). The decision of giving this woman an abortion to save her life drew some sharp remarks from Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead, who is the head of the Phoenix Diocese, indicated the woman was “automatically excommunicated” because of the abortion. The Catholic Church forbids abortion in all circumstances and allows the termination of a pregnancy only as a secondary effect of other treatments, such as radiation, or a cancerous uterus (Harris, 2010). According to the medical directives that the hospital follows, abortion is defined as the directly intended termination of pregnancy, and it is not permitted under any circumstances, even to save the mother’s life. On the other hand, a second directive says that “operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a pregnant woman are permitted, even if they will result in the death of an unborn child (St. Joseph’s, 2010).” The St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center said they always have adhered to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services as they carry out their healing ministry and continue to abide by them. They also said that those instances where the Directives did not address this type of clinical situation, the Ethics Committee convened to help their caregivers and patients make the best decision considering life or death. The decision of aborting the ladies 11 week old baby to save the woman’s life was made after a consultation with the patient, family, physicians, and Ethics Committee (Harris, 2010). The announcement by Bishop Olmsted follows months of complex talks between the Phoenix Diocese, the hospital, and the hospital’s parent company, Catholic Healthcare West. At issue is the life-saving care delivered to a pregnant patient in November, 2009 at St. Joseph’s. In that case, a decision was made to terminate an 11 week pregnancy in order to save the mother’s life (St. Joseph’s Hospital, 2010). Hunt said that consistent with the hospital’s values of dignity and justice, if they are presented with a situation in which a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life, their first priority is to save both patients. If that is not possible they will always save the life they can save, and that is what they did in this case. St. Joseph’s continues to stand by the decision, which was made in collaboration with the patient, her family, her caregivers, and the hospital’s Ethics Committee. Morally, ethically, and legally St. Joseph’s cannot stand by and let someone die whose life might be saved (St. Joseph’s Hospital, 2010). References Ertelt, Steven 2010 Abortion to Save Mother’s Life http://www.lifenews.com Harris, Dan 2010 Nun Excommunicated After Saving a Mother’s Life with Abortion http://abc.news.gov.com St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center 2011 http://www.stjoseph-phx.org/index.htm