Education
Healthcare Ethics Conference
In partnership with the Passavant Hospital Foundation and UPMC, the Institute for Bioethics hosts an Annual Healthcare Ethics Conference, featuring expert local and national speakers, interactive sessions and student awards.
2027 Healthcare Ethics Conference
Save the Date
Thursday, May 13, 2027 | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Passavant Hospital Foundation Conference Center
700 Cumberland Woods Drive
Allison Park, PA 15101
Speaker and schedule details will be posted in fall 2026.
2026 Healthcare Ethics Conference
How Language Shapes Medical Realities and Ethical Decisions
April 10, 2026
Passavant Hospital Foundation Conference Center
700 Cumberland Woods Drive
Allison Park, PA 15101
7:30–8 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8–8:15 a.m.
Welcome
Douglas B. White, MD, MAS
Director, Institute for Bioethics
Daniel R. Sullivan, MD, JD, MBA
Chair, Passavant Hospital Foundation Board of Directors
"Introduction: Why Words Matter"
Valerie Satkoske, PhD
Vice President for Ethics for UPMC
Health Services Division Co-leader for UPMC Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy
8:15–9:15 a.m.
"Red Squares, Flags, and Documenting Expletives: The Ethics of Workplace Violence Responses"
Laura Guidry-Grimes, PhD
Staff Bioethicist, Cleveland Clinic
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University
9:15–9:30 a.m.
Break
9:30–10:30 a.m.
"Fighting Words: Semantic Challenges in Healthcare Safety"
John “Jack” Rozel, MD, MSL, DFAPA
Professor of Psychiatry and of Law, University of Pittsburgh
Clinical Chief of Crisis Services, UPMC Western Behavioral Health
Medical Director, Resolve Crisis Services of UPMC Western Behavioral Health
Codirector, UPMC Systemwide Threat Assessment and Response Team (START)
10:30–11:30 a.m.
"The Thing With Feathers? Situating Hope in Clinical Care through Philosophy, Theology, and the Arts"
Michael Certo, MD, MA, MM
Pediatric Palliative Care, Critical Care, and Clinical Ethics
Associate Chair, Ethics Advisory Board
Director, Clinical Ethics Consult Service
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Lunch
12:30–1:30 p.m.
"Narratives, Not Just Numbers: Language, Media, and Vaccines"
Beth L. Hoffman, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health
1:30–1:45 p.m.
Break
1:45–2:45 p.m.
The Ira R. Messer Lecture
"The Words We Use: How the healthcare system impacts how we see. And how what we say impacts what we see."
Michael DeVita, MD, FCCM, FRCP
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Director, Palliative Care Services, Harlem Hospital Medical Center
2:45–3:45 p.m.
"How Language Shapes Medical Realities and Ethical Decisions"
Panel Discussion with Certo, DeVita, Guidry-Grimes, and Hoffman