By Pete Woody

Having a lawyer at your bedside isn’t something you immediately think of as a resource during a hospital stay.

But at VCU Health, lawyers are embedded in health care teams to help address social issues that can become barriers to accessing care for low-income patients. These challenges include poor housing conditions, insurance and public benefit denials, unlawful evictions, and domestic violence. This assistance allows patients and families to focus on treatment and healing.

While there are similar programs across the country, the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) at VCU Health’s approach to providing pro bono – donated – legal services is being recognized by the state’s highest professional organization for lawyers.

The Chief Justice’s Pro Bono Summit this summer, hosted by the Virginia Bar Association and its Pro Bono Council, is a biennial opportunity for the statewide legal community to come together to plan upcoming initiatives, discuss areas of need and share success stories. A success story highlighted this year was VCU Health’s MLP, due to its innovative efforts to use legal resources to assist patients and their families.

“The VCU Health Medical-Legal Partnership is a shining example of how a health system and its local legal community came together to address the ever-increasing needs for legal aid throughout the community that VCU Health serves,” said David L. Greenspan, a partner at McGuireWoods and pro bono co-chair of the Virginia Bar Association.

During 2023, the health system’s MLP provided legal services to nearly 500 patients, serving more than 1,200 patients and community members. The pro bono assistance is valued at more than $1.4 million in donated legal services.

Allison Held, associate general counsel and director of the MLP for VCU Health, presented in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during the summit. She says the unique way the MLP offers donated services in the community, in terms of partnerships and resources available, led to the invitation to speak at the summit.

“I believe there are hospitals that may be referring some patients to legal aid organizations, but I’m not aware of any other medical-legal partnerships like ours in the state. It was an honor to be able to represent VCU Health at the Summit,” Held said.

While most MLPs are a partnership between a hospital and one legal aid organization, Held says the scope of VCU Health’s MLP partners also sets them apart. Their primary partner is a legal aid organization, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, and additional partners include the Legal Aid Justice Center, CancerLINC, McGuireWoods law firm, Dominion Energy, and the University of Richmond School of Law.

“We are one of the more robust MLPs across the country in terms of the scope of legal services provided, number of patient populations served (nine), and number of legal partners,” Held said.

The invitation to the Chief Justice’s Pro Bono Summit adds to the recognition the MLP has previously received, including the 2022 ACCC Innovator Award from the Association of Cancer Care Centers, and a CPBO Pro Bono Partner award given by the Pro Bono Institute to VCU Health, McGuireWoods and Dominion Energy, also in 2022.

Perhaps most importantly, Held believes the opportunity to share the story of VCU Health’s MLP can bolster the program’s work and serve as a template for others to take shape around the state.

“There was a lot of interest in the MLP from the Supreme Court justices and many of the attorneys and Bar leaders from across the state. Some attorneys expressed interest in handling pro bono matters for VCU Health patients, and others wanted to know how they can bring a similar program to their local hospitals,” Held said. “So, I have a lot of people I’ll be following up with.”