Institute for Bioethics logo
Institute for Bioethics logo
Valerie Satkoske

Valerie Satkoske, PhD, MSW

Director of Clinical Ethics

Professional Statement

Valerie Violi Satkoske serves as Vice President of Ethics for UPMC Mercy Hospital, UPMC Presbyterian University/Shadyside Hospitals, and the UPMC health system. In 2020, Dr. Satkoske returned to the University of Pittsburgh, where she previously served as the ethicist for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Immediately prior to her return, she served as Director of Ethics at Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Assistant Professor of Medical Education at West Virginia University. Dr. Satkoske served as the co-director of the WVU Center for Health Ethics & Law, the Director of the West Virginia Network of Ethics Committees, and she created a medical ethics curriculum for WVU medical students. She continues to serve as an ethics consultant for the West Virginia Rural Emergency Trauma Institute (RETI) and is co-director of RETI’s Healthcare Ethics and Prehospital Ethics ECHO programs. She also serves on the Annual Conference Program Committee of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. Dr. Satkoske is a frequent lecturer in various lecture series, serves as a thesis advisor, and is the clinical practicum director for the MA Program in Bioethics.

Appointments

  • Vice President of Mission Effectiveness, Ethics, and Volunteer Services UPMC Mercy
  • Vice President of Ethics UPMC and UPMC PUH/SHY
  • Director of Clinical Ethics Institute for Bioethics
  • Leader of Volunteer Services UPMC Health Services Division
  • Co-leader of Spiritual Care Services UPMC Health Services Division

Education and Training

  • HEC-C, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, 2021
  • PhD, Duquesne University, 2008
  • MSW, University of Pittsburgh, 1999

Professional Interests in Bioethics

Representative Publications

  1. Satkoske, V. (2020). Ethics and Legal Issues in Trauma Nursing. In: McQuillan KA, Flynn Makic, MB, eds. Trauma Nursing: From Resuscitation Through Rehabilitation. 5th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.

  2. Satkoske, V., Moss, A. (2020) The system to make proxies, advance directives, and portable medical orders available and actionable across care settings. Integrating Palliative Care into Nephrology, Oxford University Press

  3. Satkoske, V., Migyanka, J.M., Kappel, D. (2019) Autism and Advance Directives: Determining Capability, and the Use of Healthcare Tools to Aid in Effective Communication and Decision Making. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

  4. Satkoske, V., Kappel, D., DeVita, M. (2019). Disaster Ethics: Shifting priorities in an unstable and dangerous environment. In: Baldisseri, M., Reed, M.J., and Wax, R., eds. Critical Care Clinics, 35(4), 717-725.