The Ethics Service is part of the Directorate of the Quality, Evaluation, Performance and Ethics of the Santé Québec Ouest-de-l'île-de-Montréal - Universitaire. Its mission is to support users and staff members of the Santé Québec Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal - Universitaire in a wide range of clinical and organizational situations involving ethical issues. The service aims to provide support for ethical decision-making while taking into account the values, rights, and well-being of all individuals concerned.
Our team:
Meredith Schwartz, PhD (Philosophy with specialization in Bioethics) Senior Clinical and Organizational Ethicist
Coralie Hervieux, B.Sc.N, M.Sc. (Clinical Ethics) Clinical and Organizational Ethicist
Franco Carnevale, PhD (Psychology), PhD (Philosophy), Clinical Ethicist (Youth services / Child welfare / Child/Youth mental health services)
Ethics consultation:
The Clinical Ethics Service provides support in situations of uncertainty, disagreement, or conflict related to ethical issues arising in healthcare, helping teams and individuals move forward with confidence and integrity. Through structured ethical reflection and guidance, we help clarify value-related concerns, and support thoughtful, well-reasoned decision-making.
The organizational ethics consultation often includes support in the development, review or analysis of policies, practice guidelines or continuous quality improvement initiatives. It also aims to support decision-making at the strategic and governance levels, particularly with respect to financial or organizational decisions whose outcomes may have an impact on clinical care.
The Organizational Ethics Service can also provide training opportunities: The ethics consultants provide education for healthcare professionals on different ethical subjects.
Child and Youth Ethics Service
Ethics consultations for child and youth services (i.e., for all minors) provide support for child/youth mental health services, child welfare/youth protection services, and general healthcare services. This involves assistance in the identification of ethical concerns, examinations of how children/youth’s best interests can be defined in specific situations, discussions about parental roles, and how young people should be involved in discussions and decisions that affect them.
Pediatric Ethics Committee for child/youth mental health services: The committee’s role is to promote a high ethical standard of clinical practice with children, youth, and families within the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.
For research ethics, please contact the Research and Regulatory Affairs Support Unit (RRASU) as the Ethics Service does not have this mandate. The RRASU’s role is to prepare, deploy and oversight of the application of the institution’s regulatory framework in research. It also provides the necessary administrative support to key players in the performance of their mandate.