It is critical that surrogate decision-makers have the ability to fully appreciate and understand information provided to them in order to make fully informed decisions on behalf of the people they represent. Sometimes the surrogate’s cognitive or emotional ability to do this is in question. This presentation will present cases and issues involved when such questions arise with surrogates.
Presented by: Wendy Kohlhase, Ph.D., Clinical Bioethicist – Huntington Hospital, USC-Verdugo Hills Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Valley Presbyterian Hospital
About Wendy Kohlhase, Ph.D.
Dr. Wendy Kohlhase received her doctorate in bioethics from the University of Southern California and provides clinical bioethics consultation, education, policy writing and institutional review board consultation to numerous hospitals in the Southern California area, including Huntington Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Keck-USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, and Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. She also received a Masters in Ethics and a Masters in Social Work, both from USC.
Dr. Kohlhase is a member of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities and the Southern California Bioethics Committee Consortium. She is a faculty member of the Graduate Medical Education program at Huntington Hospital, providing education on the core curriculums of Professionalism and Physician-Patient Communication.
Dr. Kohlhase is also a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Pasadena where she provides medical psychotherapy, critical incident stress debriefing and bioethics consultation to individuals dealing either with stressful life situations or with issues that are created by illness or injury.