The Metropolitan New York Ethics Committee Network: coming together at a time of concern

Approximately two years ago, colleagues at some of the major teaching hospitals in the New York City area began to consider the possibility of pooling resources and providing the opportunity for the over 100 hospital-based ethics committees currently in existence in and around New York City to come together. It was thought that by joining together in a network type of organization, committees could exchange experiences and wisdom, and jointly examine and develop responses to some of the more unique, as well as the more conventional, ethical dilemmas they confronted. Those efforts culminated in the start-up of the Metropolitan New York Ethics Committee Network.