Leslie Kuhnel, DBe, MPA, HEC-C
CHI Health Ethics Services
The McAuley Fogelstrom Center
Omaha, NE
Leslie Kuhnel, DBe, MPA, HEC-C, is the division vice president of theology and ethics for the CHI Health Midwest and CHI Fargo divisions. She started at CHI Health in 1994 and has been with the ethics services department since 2002, serving as the primary ethics consultant for CHI Health since 2005. She leads ethics education, practice and policy initiatives and facilitates the various healthcare ethics committees in the two divisions.
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Dr. Kuhnel recently received her doctorate in bioethics from Loyola University. She also holds a master’s in healthcare ethics from Creighton University and a master’s in public administration from the University of Nebraska – Omaha. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, where she studied psychology, art history and English. She presents and publishes nationally on various topics related to clinical ethics practice.
In addition to her role with CHI Health, Dr. Kuhnel is an assistant clinical professor in the Creighton University School of Medicine and a faculty affiliate in the graduate school’s Master of Science in bioethics program and has been a member of the Creighton IRB since 2004. Dr. Kuhnel also teaches ethics courses for Doane University, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Nebraska Methodist College.
Dr. Kuhnel currently serves on the Catholic Health Association’s Committee for Theology and Ethics and is a long-time member of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). She received her certification in healthcare ethics consultation as part of the inaugural certification cohort in 2018.