Joe Piccione---Ethics vs. Practice

Joe Piccione–Ethics vs. Practice

Date: 2 Dec 2005 19:41:54 -0000From: “Realname” To: joseph.j.piccione@osfhealthcare.org, pgibson@cdop.orgSubject:

Ethics and Practice

Dear Joe,

I received the article that you had written several years ago before we left for Haiti. One of the conclusions in your article is that we need to re-read the Ethical and Religious Directives. (Were these not written by the Bishops of the U.S. and others?) I agree with you that these ERD’s need to be followed in Catholic medical centers because they are the directives that guide Catholic health care in the U.S.

Therefore, as OSF Corporate Ethicist, when do you plan on making your statement regarding Jackson Jean-Baptiste and his immediate need for care at OSF? A statement from you and Bishop Jenky regarding this could indeed be powerful for Jackson.

I also agree with you that fear propagated from OSF Administration needs to be taken very seriously.

Please help Jackson. He has been marginalized in every fashion. He is
dying and needs a couple of advocates in high places. I hope that both you and Bishop Jenky find the courage and overcome the senseless fear in Peoria.

Sincerely,

John

(I did not hear from Bishop Jenky and Joe sent a response that I did not understand and was not helpful to Jackson. Also, Joe had sent an e mail to me stating that another physician talked about Steffen using fear at OSF, and Joe implied that this was not good...)
----------------------
May 10, 2000--The Peoria Journal Star ran an article on Joe Piccione. Dr. McShane, chairman of the Ethics Committee, comments:

"Joseph is knowledgeable of the big picture, of the vision and the values
and the mission. He's able to bridge the religious aspect with the actual
operations of the hospital," McShane said. "What he does is translate
the language of the respect for human life that is our medical mission
into the day-to-day delivery of actual care for patients."

And though the Peoria diocese is not the owner of OSF St. Francis or the
other corporate facilities, it remains important to be ethically
accountable to the Catholic Church, McShane said.

"Joseph has a good relationship with the bishop and he's the one who
helps us all follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic
Health Care Services," McShane said.

Piccione and McShane agree that the need for a corporate ethicist has
evolved, at least in part, by the diminishing role of religious sisters at
the Catholic hospitals.

"Historically, there were hundreds of sisters through here in every role
at the hospital," McShane said. "Now, in their absence, there remains a
need to continue to provide that same religious affiliation."

"The sisters were a heroic presence," Piccione said. "Our
responsibility to them is to continue to provide that same level of care.
We need to discover our own culture, our own dignity, and now that so few
of the sisters remain, we need to continue their legacy of caring and
love, their own love of charity."

Aside from being an internal ethics resource, keeping informed on the
issues of the times and doing some writing, Piccione teaches an ethics
course to nursing students.

The foundation of a Catholic health care system, Piccione said, can be
found in chapter 25 of Matthew's Gospel: " ... for I was hungry and you
gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and
you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you
visited me. ..."

And Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of
these my brethren, you did it to me."


My comments: What McShane and Piccione are spinning here is the following---Piccione worked with the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria regarding oral contraceptives-- figuring out loopholes so OSF could enter that business. The OSF Sisters are old and infirm and did not want to make these decisions themselves because dispensing contraceptives are against Catholic directives. And contrary to what McShane states above, I do not believe that the Ethical and Religious Directives of the Catholic Bishops (which would support caring for people that can't care for themselves, like Haitian kids with heart problems) was honored by OSF. McShane never answered my requests to help Willie Fortune or Jackson Jean-Baptiste. Piccione quotes scripture above and Jackson Jean-Baptiste died six years after this article was done with OSF rejecting the teachings of Matthew 25.

Did Dr. McShane and Joe Piccione show "respect for life" with their actions regarding oral contraceptives and Haitian children?











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