Speaker Alert: the morality and conflicts of ‘end of life’ decisions

The theme of the Assembly this Sunday is ‘End of Life’. Dr. Hall will use fiction and personal experience to illustrate some of the ways in which healthcare at the end of life falls short of expectations. He will explore how this is related to concepts of autonomy and the technological imperative that drives much of modern medicine. He will point further to the kinds of conversations and the kinds of services that might begin to address the unmet needs of people seeking health care services in the last season of life. This includes advance care planning with living wills, POLSTs and healthcare powers of attorney, but goes further to a more honest conversation with ourselves and each other about the limits and finitude that define the human condition.

Speaker bio

Daniel E. Hall, M.D., M.Div., M.H.Sc. is Medical Director, High Risk Populations &
Outcomes for the Wolff Center at UPMC. He is also Associate Professor of Surgery at
the University of Pittsburgh, Staff Surgeon and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and
Core Investigator at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. Dr. Hall
is practicing general surgeon with training in moral philosophy, theology, quality
improvement and health services research. His current research focuses on designing
care pathways that support value-concordant care of frail patients before and after
surgery.

When: Sunday, October 20th, 2019 at 10 AM – 11:30 AM

Where: Community Forge
1256 Franklin Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221