Ethical & Religious Directives

As a Catholic health care organization, OSF HealthCare is committed to follow fully theEthical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Servicesas defined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The introduction to the Directives notes, "The purpose of these Ethical and Religious Directives then is two-fold: first, to reaffirm the ethical standards of behavior in health care that flow from the Church’s teaching about the dignity of the human person; second, to provide authoritative guidance on certain moral issues that face Catholic health care today."

All of us involved in a Catholic health care organization are required to abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives including the sponsors, trustees, administrators, chaplains, physicians, health care personnel, volunteers and staff of these institutions and services.

TheConference of Catholic Bishopsprovides an excellent resource booklet that describes and explains all 72 Directives on their website.