As the Ethics Network prepares to forge ahead into the new millennium, we thought it would be a good time to review the Network’s activities and accomplishments. The Network surely has “come a long way” since its inception in 1994. Over the last six years, the Ethics Network has fulfilled its mission to provide education and consultation in ethics and ethical decision making in long-term care by publishing 14 newsletters and presenting 15 major conferences and seminars. Below is a time line highlighting some of the major events in the Network’s history:

Time Line

Summer 1994 ---- Telephone Survey
Advisory Board Formed
Office space provided by Schervier

Fall 1994 ---- 1st Newsletter Published

October 6, 1994 ---- Conference Co-Sponsor: Personal Autonomy

December, 1994 ---- 1st Conference: How to Start an Ethics Committee

Spring, 1995 ---- * 3-Year Grant
Newsletter
1st Network Coordinator hired

May, 1995 ---- 2nd Conference: Conflict

Fall, 1995 ---- Newsletter
2nd Coordinator hired

Spring, 1996 ---- 3rd Conference: Capacity

Summer, 1996 ---- Newsletter

June, 1996 ---- 4th Conference: Ethical Dilemmas in LTC

October, 1996 ---- 3rd Coordinator hired

Fall, 1996 ---- NYCLTCEN gets logo
Newsletter

December, 1996 ---- 5th Conference: Spirituality

Winter, 1997 ---- Newsletter

March, 1997 ---- 6th Conference: Managed Care

Summer, 1997 ---- Newsletter

September, 1997 ---- 7th Conference: Artificial Nutrition & Hydration

Fall, 1997 ---- Newsletter
*Fan Fox & Samuels Foundation renews Grant

Winter, 1998 ---- Newsletter

March, 1998 ---- 8th Conference: Culture

Spring, 1998 ---- Newsletter

June, 1998 ---- 9th Conference: Palliative Care

September, 1998 ---- Seminar: Ethics Committees

October, 1998 ---- NYCLTCEN Web Site Posted

Fall, 1998 ---- Newsletter

November, 1998 ---- Palliative Care Task Force Forms

December, 1998 ---- 10th Conference: Spirituality Conference

Spring, 1999 ---- Newsletter

June, 1999 ---- 11th Conference: Advance Directives

December, 1999 ---- 12th Conference: Organizational Ethics
*Josiah Macy Jr., Foundation Grant

Winter, 2000 ---- Newsletter

Spring, 2000 ---- Newsletter

June, 2000 ---- 13th Conference: Ethics & Dementia
*Fan Fox & Samuels Foundation Matching Grant

Spring 2001 ---- 14th Conference: Ethics in LTC

In 1994, a telephone survey of 129 nursing homes in the five boroughs of New York City was conducted by Frances Schervier’s senior researcher, Dr. Louise Schmitt. The results of that survey revealed an overwhelming interest in the formation of an ethics network to assist professionals in their struggle with everyday ethical dilemmas. To respond to this interest, an advisory board was formed consisting of a loose alliance of existing ethics committees, committees in formation, and other interested individuals. The co-directors were, and still are, Jeffrey Nichols, MD, and Paulette Sansone, PhD. Schervier Nursing Care Center (formerly Frances Schervier Home and Hospital) provided space for the Network and secretarial assistance. The Network’s advisory board planned one conference, co-sponsored another conference, and published a newsletter before receiving any funding. The first newsletter, a one-page, double-sided newsletter was published in December of 1994. The Newsletter, then called the New York City Long-Term Care Ethics Network Newsletter, was basically utilized as a mechanism to announce the Network’s conferences and activities. On October 6, 1994, the New York City Long-Term Care Ethics Network co-sponsored a conference with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York on Personal Autonomy for Nursing Home Residents: Ethical Conflicts and Avenues for Resolution. Only two months later, the Ethics Network presented its first conference, Preparing for the Future and Re-visiting the Past, which was held at Fordham University in NYC on December 8, 1994. Advisory board member and prominent ethicist and professor of Fordham University, Dr. Bart Collopy delivered the first keynote address.

In the Spring of 1995, the Network received some good news—the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation agreed to fund the Network for three years. Mr. Ilan Ledner was hired as the first Ethics Network Coordinator. In May, 1995 the Network presented its second conference, Using Conflict As a Tool in Ethical Decision Making. The Network was indeed fortunate to have yet another renowned ethicist present the keynote address: Dr. Harry Moody. By the Fall of 1995, the Ethics Network published its third newsletter.

Ms. Sue Creamer became the next Network Coordinator. In Spring of 1996, a third conference, Assessing Capacity in Long-Term Care: Ethical Issues in Health Care Decision Making was held, and the Network had the privilege of having Dr. Gary Kennedy deliver the keynote address. Shortly thereafter, a newsletter was published, a fourth conference was held, and the search began for a logo for the Network. In June 1996, Nancy Neveloff Dubler, LLB, was the keynote speaker at the Network’s fourth conference on Ethical Dilemmas in Long-Term Care: Ethical Issues in Health Care Decision Making. By the Fall of 1996, the Network obtains a logo and the Newsletter gets a new style and name: Network News. Dr. Susan Rosendahl-Masella becomes the 3rd Network Coordinator. In December of that year, Wurzweiler Graduate School of Social Service hosts the Network’s first full-day conference, Whose Life is it Anyway? Spiritual/Religious Values and Clinical Ethics in Long-Term Care. David H. Smith, PhD, renowned ethicist, author and lecturer provided the keynote address to more than 220 long-term care professionals and student.

Early in the new year of 1997 another newsletter is published. The newsletter, which is being professionally printed for the first time, contains the Network’s logo and receives a new name: Ethics Network News. Conference number six is held on March 13, 1997. Msgr. Charles Fahey, Fordham’s Maria Doty Professor of Aging, and Senior Associate of the Third Age Center, is the keynote speaker at Managed Care: Looming Ethical Dilemmas in Long-Term Care Delivery. Two more newsletters are published in 1997 with the Fall 1997 newsletter having several new features: Meet the Board and From the Editor’s Corner. In September, a conference was held on Artificial Nutrition and Hydration, with Paul Brenner, M. Div., delivering the keynote address. By the end of 1997, the Network receives news that the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation will continue to fund the Network’s activities for another two years.

The year of 1998 was an extremely busy year for the New York City Long-Term Care Ethics Network as three newsletters are published, three conferences and one seminar are held, a Palliative Care Task Force is formed, and the Network becomes technology savvy by posting its own web page on the Internet. The first conference of the year (the Network’s 8th), Health Care Decision Making: The Impact of Culture on Ethics in Long-Term Care Settings, was held at the Jewish Home and Hospital in New York City. Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, John Carroll Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics, at Georgetown University Medical Center, was the keynote speaker.

The second conference of 1998 (the Network’s 9th) on Ethical Issues of Palliative Care and Pain Management was held at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale. Ethics Network Co-Director, Dr. Jeffrey Nichols, who is board certified in palliative care, delivered the keynote. In the Fall, Dr. Rosendahl-Masella designed and posted the Ethics Network’s web site on the Internet. The Network’s third conference of 1998, which was held at Wurzweiler Graduate School of Social Service, was another full day conference on Spirituality. The conference, Ethical Mandate: Reclaiming the Practice of Spirituality in Long-Term Care, featured Phillip Boyle, PhD, of the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics as the keynote speaker.

In 1999, a newsletter was published in the Spring. The Ethics Network News has another new feature—Ethics Issues. The Network’s 11th and 12th conference were held in 1999. The 11th conference was held at St. Vincent’s Hospital in June and was called When the Unexpected Happens: Interpreting Advance Directives in An Imperfect World. Renie Rutchick, Director of Program, Choice In Dying, presented an overview on advance directives. Despite the looming transit strike and the torrential rains on the day of the Network’s 12th conference, the NYCLTCEN managed to close 1999 with the best-rated conference in its history as Dr. Carol Taylor, SCFN, RN, MS, PhD, presented a keynote address on Organizational Ethics: Practical Considerations in the Pope Auditorium at Fordham University.

In the new millennium, the NYCLTCEN announced in the Winter edition of the Ethics Network News that it had the good fortune of receiving a grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation. The Spring brought about some more good news—the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation offered to provide a matching grant. The Spring also provided another issue of the Ethics Network News as well as a new feature—Did you know? In June the Network’s 13th conference, Ethical Decisions in Dementia Care: Looking Beyond the Diagnosis, drew the largest audience in the Network’s history for a half-day conference, with over 150 long-term professionals attending the event. The keynote speaker, Bruce Jennings, Senior Research Scholar, The Hastings Center, delivered a speech entitled The Slow Drilling of Hard Boards: Ethics and Long-Term Dementia Care. Over the Summer of 2000, the web site received a new look with the Network’s logo being added to the home page as well as photos from past conferences. The end of the year brings about this issue of the newsletter and plans for a Winter 2001 newsletter and a March 2001 conference on Ethics in Long-Term Care in the New Millennium.

Efforts are currently under way to seek additional avenues of funding and we hope that the new year will once again bring good news. In the meantime we hope that you enjoyed reviewing the Network’s history and seeing how the Network has evolved from a loosely organized alliance of ethics committees, to an advisory board, to a present-day working board. The Network currently has a mailing list of over 1300 individuals and 49 e-mail addresses.

Posted 12/19/00.

NYCLTCEN’s History: We Have Come A Long Way was printed in the Winter 00-01 edition of the Ethics Network News and is posted on-line at: https://www.angelfire.com/on/NYCLTCethicsnetwork/
dec_jan00_01history.html

Next Article

Previous Article

Winter 00-01 edition of Ethics Network News

Ethics Network News Home Page

NYCLTCEN Home Page