CHW is committed to make business decisions based on ethical principles and the Process for Ethical Decision Making.

The Framework for Ethical Decision Making includes:

• Gather the facts, identify the stakeholders, determine decision makers and select participants
• Define the decision, generate options, surface and address factual questions
• Gather participants, identify values in conflict, reflect, poll group for initial learnings, articulate consensus, communicate conclusions 

CHW Statement of Common Values and the Process for Ethical Decision Making (PDF)

CHW Standards of Conduct - A Guide to Compliance and Ethics (PDF)

Commitment to PVC Alternatives

CHW has made a commitment to move toward alternatives to harm-producing PVC plastics in its hospitals. The ethical decision making process is being used to answer the question of how to honor that commitment while also being financially responsible. Three issues had been identified and the discussion lead to four alternatives and a timeline. The evaluation of the alternatives resulted in the decision that CHW hospitals will transition to PVC free products from any source available when the current contract with PVC plastics provider expires in 2006.

View the complete background of this example in PDF