Coordinator of the Ethics Program and Ethicist at Holy Redeemer Health System
Weekend Assistant at St. Martin of Tours/Philadelphia
Dear Father Swope,
I firmly believe that scandalous seeds of confusion have been sown by Catholic hospitals in our archdiocese - so much so that it is misleading for them to be called "Catholic." For example:
- 1) No Holy Redeemer OBGYN can be identified on One More Soul's list of NFP only OBGYNs;
- 2) At Holy Redeemer, there are IVF specialists with privileges (e.g., ALL of Holy Redeemer's "Reproductive Endocrinologists and Obstetricians" are IVF specialists (Drs Arthur Castelbaum, Martin Freedman, Benjamin Gocial, and Jacqueline Gutmann of Reproductive Medicine Associates of Philadelphia)!;
- 3) Holy Redeemer's Advance Directive form does NOT clearly specify:
- Catholic teaching with regard to nutrition and hydration, and
- that health care services cannot honor non-specific directives to forego nutrition and hydration.
Until today, I was unaware that a priest of the Archdiocese was overseeing "ethics" at Holy Redeemer. Another ethics consultant is Vincent McPeak, MD: "Dr. McPeak's interests and his expertise in bioethics include medical-ethical issues in reproduction, end-of-life care and advance directives." Huh?
Sincerely,
