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45 Clearinghouse Rev. 124 (2011-2012)
Medical-Legal Partnership Evolution or Revolution

handle is hein.journals/clear45 and id is 130 raw text is: MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIP EVOLUTION Z REVOLUTION? By Pamela C. Tames, Colleen M. Cotter, Suzette M. Melendez, Steve Scudder, and Jeffrey Colvin Pamela C. Tames Director of Training National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Medical-Legal Partnership I Boston Boston Medical Center 88 E. Newton St. Vose 5 Boston, MA 02118 617.414.7315 pamela.tames@bmc.org Colleen M. Cotter Executive Director Legal Aid Society of Cleveland 1223 W. Sixth St. Cleveland, OH 44113 216.861.5273 cmcotter@lasclev.org Suzette M. Melendez Director, Children's Rights and Family Law Clinic Codirector, Syracuse Medical-Legal Partnership Office of Clinical Legal Education Syracuse University College of Law P.O. Box 6543 Syracuse, NY 13217-6543 315.443.4582 smmelend@law.syr.edu Steve Scudder Counsel ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service American Bar Association 321 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60654 312.988.5768 steve.scudder@americanbar.org Jeffrey Colvin Pediatrician, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics Physician Liaison, Legal Aid Referral Program Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics 2401 Gillham Rd. Kansas City, MO 64108 816.802.1493 jdcolvin@cmh.edu 124 In 1993 Dr. Barry Zuckerman, chairman of the Pediatrics Department at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, hired a lawyer to work directlywith pediatric patient-families. Building on a pilot initiative developed by Prof. Gary Bellow at Harvard Law School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and cit- ing numerous instances of pediatric patients who had asthma and suffered repeated attacks and hospitalizations due to abysmal housing conditions, Dr. Zuckerman re- alized that patient health would not improve without remediation of those housing conditions through the intervention of a lawyer. Thus the first medical-legal partner- ship was born. Fast forward to the year 2oi0; more than 235 hospitals and health centers in the Unit- ed States and Canada partner with more than 90 legal aid organizations to provide legal help to patients in multiple medical disciplines such as pediatrics, family medi- cine, oncology, geriatrics, and internal medicine. Multiple law and medical schools are affiliated with medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) and many residency programs incorporate MLP curriculum into their gradu- ate medical education.' Dozens of recent law school graduates have been funded through Equal Justice Works and Skadden fellowships to create or enhance MLPs. The MLP model has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the American Medical Association (AMA).1 In 2oio the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funded three MLP pilot projects and, on July 29, the bipartisan Medical-Legal Partnership for Health Act, calling for a nationwide demonstration project for MLP, was intro- duced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The MLP model is rapidly creating a new standard of practice for vulnerable populations.4 Here we examine why so many lawyers-especially those associated with legal aid, law schools, the private bar, and hospital general counsel-are collaborating with health care providers to deliver health- promoting legal services to low-income persons. We describe (in I and II) the history of the legal and medical professions and present con- text for their respective commitments to serving vulnerable people.5 We discuss what 'National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, 2011 MLP Network Site Survey (2011), http://bit.ly/lyVmR1. 2National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, www.medical-legalpartnership.org. 'Medical-Legal Partnership for Health Act, H.R. 5961, 111th Cong. (2010); S. 3668, 111th Cong. (2010). 4Megan Sandel et al., Medical-Legal Partnerships: Transforming Primary Care by Addressing the Legal Needs of Vulnerable Populations, 29 HEALTH AFFAIRS 9 (2010). 'Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) involves more than just two professions. Nurses, social workers, case managers, and public health professionals, among others, participate in MLPs. For instance, social workers have long been considered an integral part of the medical team and often are the most prepared to engage in advocacy with vulnerable patients. For simplicity, we discuss the health care professional's perspective and role through the doctor. Clearinghouse REVIEW Journal of Poverty Law and Policy a July-August 2011

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