5 minute read
Service is the Connection Between CBA and OhioHealth
LI S F ELLIS
Last fall, Columbus Bar Association executive director, Jill Snitcher, approached me with a novel idea. She asked, “Would OhioHealth be willing to partner with the CBA by serving as the host of several health care law committee meetings?” When I asked Terri Meldrum, senior vice president and general counsel for OhioHealth, about the idea, she did not hesitate and enthusiastically agreed.
At first blush, the Columbus Bar Association and OhioHealth would not necessarily seem to be natural partners. The CBA is a diverse community of nearly 5,000 central Ohio legal professionals. OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, health care system. OhioHealth has been recognized as one
of the top five large health systems in America by IBM Watson Health™, an honor received six times. OhioHealth has 29,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home health, medical equipment and other health services spanning 47 Ohio counties.
Although the organizations are vastly different, they are aligned in their missions of service. The mission of the CBA is to strive to be the leader in providing excellent, innovative and cost effective services to members of the legal profession and the general public in central Ohio. Through the active involvement of a broad and diverse membership, the CBA focuses on professionalism, education, advocacy and community service in order to advance the justice system for all. The mission of OhioHealth is to improve the health of those we serve. The vision of OhioHealth is to be a place where people want to work, where physicians want to practice and,
Service was front and center in our minds as our office worked with the CBA to put together a three-part series to show how attorneys who practice in the health care industry provide excellent legal service to their clients.
We kicked off the first part of the series by featuring the OhioHealth Office of General Counsel. And what an incredible launch to this partnership! The room was filled to capacity with health care legal experts throughout central Ohio. As attorneys in the health care industry, everyone in the room could understand how critical and challenging our roles as inhouse counsel are in providing excellent legal service to a complex organization.
Real Estate Appraisals • Expert Testimony Thomas R. Horner, MAI
201 Bradenton Avenue • Dublin, OH 43017 Phone: 614-791-0038 Email: info@ohiorealestate.org www.ohiorealestate.org
Moderated by Meldrum, the panel also included Travis Hubble, Mark DeCastro, Emily Root and Michael Gross, who are all part of the OhioHealth legal team. During the discussion, we provided our audience with a snapshot of the
structure of the Office of General Counsel. We also showcased our office’s role at OhioHealth and how we strive to provide the best legal expertise to our organization. The discussion included a summary of our backgrounds and the different skillsets we bring to our roles. We
We talked about the demands and expectations of inhouse counsel for a high-performing organization. Specifically, we addressed our approach to innovation and changes in the health care industry. As the legal experts for our organization, we are required to stay up to speed on proposed regulations and new health care laws so that we can provide accurate counsel to our clients. Most importantly, we discussed that our approach to responding to our client is one of service. We are in our roles at OhioHealth to serve the organization so that our associates can provide the best health care service to our community.
The second part showcased the partnerships that inhouse counsel for a health care system have with their outside counsel. The panel, moderated by Valerie Jama, the Health Care Law Committee Chair, included Erin Davis Shedd, OhioHealth, Jennifer Nelson Carney, Bricker & Eckler, LLP, Natasha Davis, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Lisa Pierce Reisz, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. The panel discussed how in-house counsel relies on outside counsel for legal support to meet their fast-paced needs. The panel also highlighted the importance of having strong relationships so that outside counsel has an understanding of the client’s culture and organization. This understanding allows
The final part will feature OhioHealth health care executives and how they rely upon and work with the Office of General Counsel, moderated by Keith Hartzell, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. As discussed in the first panel, OhioHealth is a complex and large organization, and the health care executives rely on the Office of General Counsel to provide sound legal advice.
The common denominator of each committee meeting has been service: service of in-house counsel to their client organization, service of outside counsel to their in-house counsel, and service of in-house counsel to the health care executives and leaders. As we wrap up our series, I have learned that two organizations such as the CBA and OhioHealth that seem completely different on their face are actually very closely linked to one another with the common mission of both being service to the community.
Lindsay Ford Ellis, Esq.
OhioHealth Lindsay.FordEllis@ohiohealth.com
Discover the Difference LCNB National Bank’s Trust Department provides investment, wealth planning, and professional estate and trust services.
614-310-7200 | LCNB.com
Our experienced trust professionals are highly accessible and are committed to timely, face-to-face meetings.
NOT FDIC Insured No LCNB National Bank Guarantee May Lose Value
CBA members get 25% off payroll processing at PrimePay
