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Press Release

August 29, 2006

Subject: Catholic Medical Association Names Brehany as Executive Director/Ethicist

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: brehany@cathmed.org

The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) –the nation’s largest professional organization of Catholic doctors – has named John F. Brehany, Ph.D., S.T.L. as its new Executive Director and Ethicist. He will start full time with the CMA on September 1, 2006, just prior to the organization’s 75th Annual Educational Conference to be held in Boston on October 26-28. Dr. Brehany will oversee operations of the CMA at its new headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, provide direction on health care ethics and public policy issues, support membership campaigns, serve as spokesman to the media, and coordinate the publications, advertising, and ongoing development of the CMA. Brehany will succeed C&C Consulting, which has been serving the CMA for the past 3 years.

Dr. Brehany most recently served as Executive Director of Mission Services & Ethics for Mercy Medical Center, Sioux City, Iowa, where he was responsible for mission integration, ethics consultation and education, pastoral care, and the community benefit ministry program. Dr. Brehany has taught at a number of institutions of higher learning, including Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, Saint Louis University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Briar Cliff University School of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. In addition to teaching, Dr. Brehany has done a great deal of public speaking on issues ranging from assisted suicide to stem cell research. 

Dr. Brehany holds a Ph.D. in Health Care Ethics from Saint Louis University, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., and a M.A. in Philosophy from University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas. He received his undergraduate education at the University of San Francisco.

“We are very pleased that John Brehany is joining the Catholic Medical Association,” stated Thomas Pitre, M.D., CMA Board President. “The board was looking for someone with the education and experience required to make the CMA a stronger, more effective organization. We are confident that we have found the right person.”