The School of Nursing at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, recently announced the founding of the Center for the Study of Human Dignity and Ethics in Health Care.

The Center's goals include providing educational opportunities for health care professionals and others on current related issues; providing consultation, conducting research and disseminating findings; building partnerships within the health care community; providing fora for scholarly presentations; developing model learning outcomes based on values for health professions students; and honoring health professionals who have defended and protected human dignity and flourishing.

Brother Ignatius Perkins, O.P., Dean of the School of Nursing, described the need for the new Center as "decades old."  The timing of the launch is providential "in relation to the continued draconian changes in health care today and in the future," Brother Perkins said.

The Center for the Study of Human Dignity and Ethics in Health Care will be driven by the Mission and Core Values of Aquinas College as well as the Philosophy of the School of Nursing.

Here's more from the College:

“Such a Center is critically important in our global world and particularly in health care as rapid changes in health care and new delivery models coupled with the emergence of complex ethical questions arise every day.  The inauguration of the Center is unique for this region and is consistent with the Mission of the College to “Transform Lives and Culture Through Truth and Charity,” Brother Perkins, O.P. said.  “Through this important initiative, Aquinas College will continue to be a moral force in re-shaping the world of health care by supporting all those seeking to be healed as well as members of the health professions, taking on the critical ethical issues of the day, so that dignity, freedom and human flourishing can be claimed by every person who has ever been born.”

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