On April 11, 2014, the Health Law Partnership in Atlanta, Georgia and the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaii were honored by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) with the 2014 Outstanding Medical-Legal Partnership Award. The award was established in 2011, and is given annually to recognize programs that have made legal care part of the delivery of healthcare for vulnerable people and that have demonstrated significant impact on patient care and healthcare clinic practice.
Dr. Bob Pettignano (l) and Sylvia Caley (second from left) from the Health Law Partnership in Atlanta, Georgia accepting the 2014 Outstanding MLP Award.
Established in 2004, the Health Law Partnership (HeLP) is a partnership among Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., Georgia State University College of Law, Emory University School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine. HeLP has expanded public health legal services to multiple patient populations, excelled in both medical and legal education, promoted successful policy changes to improve population health and contributed to the evidence base for medical-legal partnership through numerous peer reviewed articles pertaining to MLP’s impact on asthma, sickle cell disease and provider satisfaction.
The Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai’i was established in 2009, and is a partnership among Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family, the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai’i and the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai’i. The health and legal teams at MLPC Hawaii have introduced joint training for law students, medical students and medical residents, and it has expanded clinical services to address population health through joint policy efforts. MLPC Hawaii leveraged the expertise of healthcare and legal practitioners to expand Medicaid coverage for immigrant populations.
Dina Shek, Dr. Alicia Turlington, U’i Goods and Randy Compton from MLPC Hawaii accepting the 2014 Outstanding MLP Award.
“These partnerships exemplify how the health and legal needs of patients – both at major health systems and at Federally Qualified Health Centers – are better addressed when healthcare and legal practitioners learn and work side-by-side,” said Ellen Lawton, co-Principal Investigator at NCMLP. “These legal and healthcare institutions in Hawaii and Atlanta have embraced medical-legal partnership as part of their mission and are leading the way for other communities to develop similar programs.”
The awards were presented on April 11, 2014 during the Medical-Legal Partnership Summit in Seattle, Washington.