Committees

The Roper St. Francis Healthcare Medical Ethics Committee is committed to upholding our values by working as a team to provide ethical consultation, educational opportunities and policy review for the system.

The values we help to uphold include:

• Human Dignity to uphold the sacredness of life and to be respectful and inclusive of everyone.
• Integrity to act ethically and to model right relationships in all of our individual and organizational encounters
• Compassion to accompany those we serve with mercy and tenderness, recognizing that “being with” is as important as “doing for.”
• Stewardship to promote responsible use of all human and financial resources.
• Service to provide the highest quality in every dimension of our organization.

The committee is made up of members from clinical, support and administrative staff representing many disciplines in the healthcare system and community members with an interest in ethics. The committee primarily addresses medical ethical issues but is open to review community and organizational ethics and includes both on the committee’s annual agenda.

Anyone can request an ethics consultation. Inquiries and requests for consultation on medical ethics issues are handled by a consult team and facilitated by the mission director. To request an ethics consultation, contact pastoral care, the mission director or a nursing supervisor at:

• Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital – Lisa Cottingham, Director Mission
• Roper Hospital – Rob Arp, Manager Pastoral Care
• Roper St. Francis Healthcare Berkeley Hospital – David Hudspeth, Staff Chaplain
• Roper St. Francis Healthcare Mount Pleasant Hospital – Kevin Bennett, Staff Chaplain

As a Catholic hospital, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services Ethical & Religious Directives under the guidance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston.

The purpose of the Patient and Family Experience Council (PFEC) is to advocate and empower patients and families to take an active role in improving the patient experience at Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

Our goal is to build a patient-centered healthcare culture based on:

• Mutual respect and understanding
• Open and clear communication, and
• A collaborative partnership

To achieve the best outcome for every individual.

You can help us improve our care and engage families by joining our council. As a volunteer member, you will:

• Explore healthcare issues and challenges facing patients, family members and the community.
• Improve the planning, delivery and evaluation of healthcare services at Roper St. Francis Healthcare.
• Recommend new policies, programs and services to address the needs of patients and family members.
• Identify opportunities to improve patient and family satisfaction.

The requirements for volunteer council members include:

• Direct experience as a patient or family member at Roper St. Francis Healthcare.
• Willingness to work in partnership with others to develop solutions to improve patient experience.
• Ability to listen and reflect on issues, thoughts and priorities that are different than your own.
• Respect and confidentiality of patient and Roper St. Francis Healthcare information.

Council membership is a two-year term. Members are expected to attend at least four of six meetings per year. Full council meetings are held every other month for two hours and include lunch. Meetings are held at one of our Roper St. Francis Healthcare hospitals.

To request more information on the council, please send inquiries to [email protected].