June 21, 2011

Worcester law firm to host open house for MBA Pro Bono Prescription, launched to help low-income residents

Innovative program is collaboration between the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Medical-Legal Partnership Massachusetts network

The Worcester law firm Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee LLP will on June 21 host the first open house for the MBA Pro Bono Prescription, a pioneering initiative jointly created by the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Medical-Legal Partnership Massachusetts network. The program brings together volunteer attorneys and medical professionals to promote the health and well-being of low-income patients through legal advocacy.

“The MBA is particularly pleased and proud of this joint venture between the MBA and Medical-Legal Partnerships in Massachusetts. Medical-legal partnerships serve a critical role in providing services to residents whose health is impacted by social and environmental factors,” said MBA Vice President Jeffrey N. Catalano, a partner at Todd & Weld LLP in Boston. “Through this program, MBA volunteers can strengthen health care teams and support low-income patients by lending their expertise and service in such legal areas as substandard housing and domestic violence matters.”

The 5 p.m. open house is co-sponsored by the MBA, Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts – that region’s MLP site, which will serve as the liaison between volunteer attorneys and patients in the Worcester area – and Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston, the founding site of the national MLP Network.

“Since 2003, FACM has been partnering with healthcare providers to address the social and environmental factors that negatively impact health,” FACM Legal Director Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham said. “Over the past eight years, the need for FACM’s services has increased beyond the program’s capacity. The MBA Pro Bono Prescription provides an exciting opportunity to expand FACM’s collaborative model to better meet the needs of the low-income population of Worcester County.”

The MBA’s governing body, its House of Delegates, unanimously passed a resolution in January endorsing MLPs, which laid the ground for creating this partnership. The MBA’s support follows approval from the American Medical Association, which passed a similar resolution aimed at the medical profession in June 2010. The American Bar Association passed a resolution endorsing the expansion of medical-legal partnerships throughout the legal profession four years ago.

 “It is well-established that many health problems are created or exacerbated by unmet legal needs, and this program seeks to increase the supply of lawyers who can be ‘prescribed’ as part of the treatment plan for our commonwealth’s most vulnerable patients,” said Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston Executive Director Samantha J. Morton.

To find out more about the program, visit www.MassBar.org/ProBonoRX.

To RSVP for the June 21 event, email: sloy@laccm.org

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Incorporated in 1911, the Massachusetts Bar Association is a non-profit organization that serves the legal profession and the public by promoting the administration of justice, legal education, professional excellence and respect for the law. The MBA represents a diverse group of attorneys, judges and legal professionals across the commonwealth.

Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts is a medical-legal partnership between the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts and several medical provider sites serving at-risk populations throughout Worcester County. FACM’s mission is to improve family health through collaborative advocacy by doctors and lawyers. Founded in 2003, FACM is the third oldest medical-legal partnership in the country.

Founded at Boston Medical Center in 1993, Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston allies healthcare providers and lawyers to promote the health and well-being of vulnerable populations in Greater Boston. We build advocacy capacity in healthcare staff and systems, provide legal assistance to patients in the healthcare setting, and pursue policy change in close partnership with clinicians. The Founding Site of the national MLP Network, MLP | Boston currently serves three hospitals and six community health centers, and is supported by a panel of law firm and in-house pro bono partners.