Health Care

Health care is among the most dynamic, complex and highly regulated industries. As new medical technologies emerge and knowledge grows, health care executives and service providers are consistently challenged to respond and adapt to evolving marketplace forces. Stone Pigman partners with our health care clients to handle a wide range of litigation and business matters.

Firm lawyers develop meaningful business ventures and ensure compliance with relevant federal and state regulatory entities for a range of clients, including:

• Hospitals and hospital service districts
• Diagnostic and treatment ancillary facilities
• Large and small physician groups and sole practitioners
• Home health agencies
• Nursing homes and continuing care retirement communities
• Academic institutions
• Medical research organizations

The business practice encompasses representation and consultation on a broad spectrum of areas within the health care field. We are noted for our strength in:

• purchases and sales of hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and medical practices;
• sales and leases of medical office buildings;
• stockholder and partnership agreements;
• malpractice defense, policy review and drafting of self insurance programs;
• nursing and continuing care retirement home issues;
• service contracts between physicians and hospitals;
• peer review and medical staff disputes;
• federal and state regulatory matters;
• HCFA regulatory interpretations;
• corporate matters;
• financing of Medicare and Medicaid receivables;
• Medicare audits;
• securities;
• bond financing;
• antitrust issues;
• clinical research issues;
• informed consent documentation;
• Institutional Review Board procedures;
• independent physician association documentation;
• patient record retention and disclosure of patient-physician privileged information, including contagious and infectious disease reporting;
• home health and ambulance service issues;
• ethical issues;
• employee benefit planning;
• employment, compensation and management agreements;
• employer drug testing plans; and
• arbitration and mediation of the above issues.

Recent representative matters include:

• The firm represents Lambeth House, Inc. (A Continuing Care Retirement Community in New Orleans) and its health care division, Martin's Landing, for corporate, tax, property, financing and regulatory matters. Lambeth House, Inc. is currently undertaking a corporate reorganization for operational, management and strategic planning purposes.
• The firm represented Oak Park Health Care Center, L.L.C. and Oak Park Manor, L.L.C. in their acquisition of the Oak Park nursing home in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
• The firm represented the underwriter in connection with the issuance of $73,745,000 of conduit bonds for the benefit of the St. James Place, a continuing care retirement community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• The firm represented Capital Health Services in a series of purchases and sales of home health agencies throughout Louisiana.

We also offer services in our litigation health care practice.