September 29, 2015

Community Legal Aid partners with UMass Memorial with a New Grant from LSC

Legal Services Corporation awards Community Legal Aid a grant to partner with UMass Memorial Health Care to address legal barriers to good health outcomes for Medicaid-eligible low-income families 

Worcester, Mass. – The Legal Services Corporation has awarded Worcester-based Community Legal Aid a two-year Pro Bono Innovation Fund grant valued at more than $200,000. Community Legal Aid will partner with UMass Memorial Health Care to develop a clinic-based program to tackle legal needs that negatively impact the health of low-income and minority communities.

This new medical-legal partnership will provide legal services to patients through an innovative new primary care model at three UMass Memorial Medical Center clinics that serve a high number of Medicaid patients. The goal is better health outcomes for some of the most vulnerable families and individuals in Central Massachusetts using a community health framework that integrates care coordination and behavioral health into the primary care setting. It will add legal services providers, including pro bono private attorneys, to the clinical care team to help address such legal barriers to good health as substandard housing, access to benefits, etc. “This grant allows us to expand our services in Central Massachusetts and provide hundreds of new volunteer opportunities to private lawyers with quality support and training,” says Jonathan Mannina, Executive Director, Community Legal Aid.

“We are excited to collaborate with Community Legal Aid and local pro-bono attorneys who share our commitment to improving the lives of low income children and families, frail elders and other members of our communities who have significant needs,” said Kate Eshghi, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for UMass Memorial. “Together we can remove the legal barriers to good health for our most vulnerable patients.”

In collaboration with UMass Memorial’s Office of General Counsel and Department of Community Relations, Community Legal Aid will recruit pro bono (volunteer) attorneys to participate in this exciting new program. A medical-legal partnership attorney will support and train the pro bono attorneys and will be embedded on-site in the UMass Memorial clinics working closely with the clinical team to identify and address unmet legal needs that are a barrier to healthy outcomes for patients. 

“I am eager to work with the clinical team and private bar to improve the health of our community,” said Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham, Managing Attorney and co-founder of Community Legal Aid’s medical-legal partnership. 

“Working with our legal partners at Community Legal Aid has taught me to ask my patients and families questions that I wasn’t taught in medical school but which do impact my patients’ health,” said Beverly Nazarian, MD, physician leader for UMass Memorial’s partnership with Community Legal Aid. “For example, asking about housing helps me to identify issues like mold or pests that may be worsening a patient’s asthma and resulting in emergency room visits or hospitalization.”

For more information, please contact:

CLA: Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham, Managing Attorney, (508) 425-2803, vzolezzi-wyndham@cla-ma.org.

UMass Memorial: Anthony Berry, Director, Media and Public Relations, (508) 793-5394, anthony.berry@umassmemorial.org.

THE PARTNERS

Community Legal Aid is the single and unique provider of legal aid services in central and western Mass. Community Legal Aid improves the lives of low-income and elderly people through legal assistance that protects fundamental rights, secures access to basic needs, and challenges policies and practices that harm our clients. We work with families, individuals, and elders to address their housing, public benefits, health insurance, domestic violence, employment, disability and education needs and to protect them from unlawful discrimination. Community Legal Aid has engaged in medical-legal partnership since 2003. To learn more, please visit www.communitylegal.org.

UMass Memorial Health Care is UMass Memorial Health Care is the largest not-for-profit health care system in Central Massachusetts with more than 12,900 employees and 1,670 physicians, many of whom are members of UMass Memorial Medical Group. Our member hospitals and entities include Clinton Hospital, HealthAlliance Hospital, Marlborough Hospital, UMass Memorial Medical Center and Community Healthlink, our behavioral health agency. With our teaching and research partner, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, our extensive primary care network and our cancer, diabetes, heart and vascular, and musculoskeletal programs, UMass Memorial delivers safe, high-quality and compassionate care. Call 855-UMASS-MD (855-862-7763) for all your health care needs. Visit umassmemorialhealthcare.org.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the nation. Established in 1974, LSC operates as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that promotes equal access to justice and provides grants for high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. LSC distributes more than 90 percent of its total funding to 134 independent nonprofit legal aid programs with nearly 800 offices. The Pro Bono Innovation Fund offers grants for new pro bono initiatives, collaborations, and partnerships to engage more lawyers and other professions in pro bono service, address gaps in legal services, and address persistent challenges in pro bono delivery systems.