Interactive remote sites in Bemidji, Fergus Falls, Rochester, St. Cloud, Marshall, and Duluth.

Who should be first to receive scarce health-related resources in a severe pandemic? How should scarce resources like antivirals, masks, vaccines, and ventilators be rationed? How will you communicate a public health perspective to your community, supporting rationing strategies to further our common good? How will you educate them and enlist their support of a state-wide plan to ration these resources in ways intended to save the most lives, preserve public safety and order, and be fair?

Ethicists in Minnesota have worked with state and local public health agencies and a diverse community panel to develop an ethical framework to guide the Minnesota Department of Health's decisions in the midst of a severe pandemic, for the statewide rationing of a range of critical health-related resources for prevention, treatment and personal protection.

In this session, they will present their ethical framework, consisting of principles, goals, and strategies. They will engage you in the vexing ethical issues associated with deciding which groups should be prioritized to receive these vital resources when everyone is, in varying ways and to varying extents, at risk.

Registration

Register Online
Free and open to the public. Registration required.

Speakers

Debra A. DeBruin, PhD, is Director of Education in the Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota.

J. Eline (Ellie) Garrett, JD, is the Assistant Director for Health Policy and Public Health for the Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics in Minneapolis.

Angela Witt Prehn, PhD, is a Center Associate for the Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics and an adjunct professor, University of Minnesota.

Mary Faith Marshall, PhD, is Associate Dean for Social Medicine and Medical Humanities and Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School.