Presenter: Thomas D. Harter, PhD

Director, Department of Bioethics and Humanities
Gundersen Health System, La Crosse, Wisconsin

Thomas (Tom) Harter, PhD, is the Director of the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI. Dr. Harter received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Tennessee, specializing in medical ethics and business ethics. He then completed the 2-year Cleveland Fellowship in Advanced Bioethics, learning and honing the skills used in clinical ethics consultation and empirical bioethics research.

Dr. Harter provides ethics education programs and workshops—locally, nationally, and internationally—for a variety of health professionals at all different levels. He chairs both the Gundersen Institutional Review Board and the Gundersen Ethics Committee. In these roles, Dr. Harter has helped develop institutional policies and practices, staff education, and patient and community education with special focuses on advance care planning, community engagement, and medico-industry relationships.

Dr. Harter’s research on ethical issues that arise at the intersection of business, medical professionalism, and patient care have resulted in numerous peer-reviewed conference presentations and articles. He recently served on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services COVID-19 vaccine allocation committee. Currently, Dr. Harter serves as the President of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care (2020-2022) and the President of the newly formed Bioethics Network of the Upper Midwest.

Topic: Ethical Issues in End-of-Life Pediatric and Neonatal Care

End-of-life medical care for pediatric and neonatal patients and their families is emotionally taxing and can be ethically challenging for parents, healthcare professionals, and self-aware minors. This presentation will address ethical challenges in end-of-life pediatric and neonatal care related to surrogate and treatment decision-making and the withholding or withdrawal of treatment. Special consideration will be paid to understanding and resolving values conflicts between families and healthcare providers; recent cases involving disputed withdrawals of treatment will be discussed.