Update on Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services
By Jacob Harrison, Chief Catholic Mission Officer, Intermountain Health Peaks Region
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently announced revisions to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs), which guide our Catholic health facilities in the Peaks Region.
The ERDs are routinely updated. Their complexity necessitates a careful and disciplined approach to implementation. On initial review, we do not believe that the recent revisions will require any material changes to current clinical practice in Catholic healthcare facilities.
Our Ethics, Legal, and Mission teams have already begun a comprehensive review of the new information. This process is necessary to ensure we fully understand the theological, legal, and operational implications of any changes before issuing system-wide guidance.
This review will take time. Until that process is complete, there are no changes to our current clinical policies and protocols.
We appreciate your patience and support as we work diligently to provide clear and accurate guidance.
We also want to confirm that our Statement of Common Values remains unchanged and continues to guide our work and the compassionate care we deliver every day. The Statement of Common values is written into Peaks Region policy and includes the requirement that caregivers serving patients in our region will not:
Perform elective (direct) abortions.
Participate in medical aid in dying.
Conduct in vitro fertilization.
Carry out research involving human embryos that is non-therapeutic.
We remain unwavering in our Catholic mission to improve the health of the people and communities we serve, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.
We will share any updated clinical guidance as soon as the review is complete.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our patients and our mission.