Ethics In Government Award 1995

Oregon loses a statesman

PORTLAND — Former Sen. Mark Hatfield, an outspoken critic of war whose liberal views often put him at odds with fellow Republicans, died Sunday. He was 89.

Hatfield, who had become increasingly frail in recent years, died at a Portland residence, said Gerry Frank, a longtime friend and former aide.

Also a former governor, Hatfield was the longest-serving U.S. senator in Oregon history, serving five terms from 1967 to 1997. He gained fame for key efforts against U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War, but also spoke in favor of President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.

One of the first American servicemen to enter Hiroshima after the atomic bombing, he once said one of his major accomplishments was helping usher through Congress a ban on U.S. nuclear weapons testing in 1987.

“Every president other than Eisenhower has been seduced by the military concept that that is our sole measurement of our national security and the more bombs we build, the more secure we are,” Hatfield said a decade later.

“That’s just not true. We are vulnerable in our national security today, and we are vulnerable in many ways we are not addressing — the needs of education, the needs of housing, the needs of nutrition, the needs of health, the needs of infrastructure.”

As chairman and later ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hatfield steered millions of dollars to public works projects in his home state. They ranged from national scenic areas and hydropower dams to the state university system and the Marine Science Center that bears his name in Newport.

“You can’t travel anywhere in Oregon without seeing the difference Mark Hatfield has made,” former Oregon Secretary of State Norma Paulus once said.

Hatfield was known to vote across party lines. In 1995, he was the only Republican senator to oppose a balanced budget amendment, which left it just one vote short of passing the Senate.

He also criticized the death penalty and opposed abortion, though he never actively sought to place legal limits on abortion. He said his views on both issues were based on his belief in the sanctity of life.

VA Honored by 2011 “Innovations in Government” Award

WASHINGTON – The ethics program used by the Department of Veterans Affairs to handle issues affecting its patients is a semi-finalist for the prestigious “Innovations in Government” award from Harvard University for the third time in a decade.

“This honor is a tribute to the men and women who care for our sick and injured veterans, and to VA’s health care system, which is leading the industry in so many sectors,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.  “In VA, we view ethics as an integral part of health care services to Veterans, which helps define VA’s health care excellence in the 21 century.”

VA’s ethics program, officially known as Integrated Ethics, is a practical and comprehensive model for organizational ethics that was developed by VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care.  In 2007, the IE was implemented at 152 VA medical centers and 21 regional networks across the country.

The annual award for excellence and creativity in the public sector is sponsored by Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government.

The top 25 programs were selected from approximately 500 entries.  In the fall, five finalists and one winner of the Innovations in Government award will be announced.

The Integrated Ethics model uses an image of an iceberg to illustrate the concept of “ethics quality,” according to Dr. Ellen Fox, chief ethics in health care officer and chief architect of the Integrated Ethics model.

“At the tip of the iceberg are ethical decisions and actions that can be easily seen,” Fox said. “Beneath the surface are organizational systems and processes that drive behavior. Deeper still are the organization’s environment and culture, which are the foundation for everything else.”

“Many ethics programs tend to be reactive,” said Melissa Bottrell, chief of integrated ethics for VA’s health care system. “They focus mainly on the tip of the iceberg.  But to create real and lasting organizational change, an ethics program must proactively address all three levels.”

In 2006, VA received the Innovations Award for its advanced electronic health records and performance measurement system, and in 2001, for its National Center for Patient Safety.  VA was a 1995 finalist for reengineering ambulatory care with a primary care program.

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