In This Issue
No Room at the Inn? Does N.C. Have All the Health Care Services and Facilities It Needs?
Each year, the governor, assisted by the State Health Coordinating Council (SHCC) and members of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Planning Section, produces a State Medical Facilities Plan (SMFP) that identifies all health care facilities and services subject to CON that are “needed” in the state.
The Duty to Investigate in Nursing Facilities
We’ll make you a bet – we bet if each of you reading this article goes to your facility policy and procedure manual, you’ll find a policy on investigating “incidents” in your facility. We also bet that your policy is broader than it needs to be.
A Proposed New Year’s Resolution
For 2010, a good New Year’s resolution from an employment law perspective would be to review your existing personnel policies, paying particular attention to your electronic usage policy.
Ken’s Quote of the Month – by Robert Browning
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life.”
Ken won’t tell you, but I will…
By Laura Hudson, President, Ken Burgess Fan Club, and Marketing Director of Poyner Spruill LLP
Those of you who know Ken know that he’ll brag about his friends, his clients, his co-workers, his organizations, and especially his nieces and nephews. However, he frequently forgets to let everyone know of his accolades and achievements, and I’d like to correct that! While 2009 was not a banner year for most industries, Ken didn’t let that slow him down in the slightest. Some high points of the past year:
- Ken co-authored an article on Nursing Facility-Hospice Contracts Under Medicare CoPs that was one of the National Law Review’s most read articles for 2009.
- He was recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America by Woodward & White, publishers of this esteemed list, for his work in health care law.
- He was president of the North Carolina Society of Healthcare Attorneys, and will now serve as immediate past president and chair of the society’s Innovations Committee and co-chair of the Law School Grants Committee.
- He was appointed board chair for the North Carolina Healthcare Facilities Association FutureCare Foundation through 2011.
- He was appointed to a two-year term on the N.C. Bar Association’s Health Law Council.
And in keeping with his overachiever status, Ken already has some great things planned for 2010!
- He has been asked to become an affiliate faculty member of ECU’s School of Medicine in the Masters in Public Health Program on Long Term Care Administration.
- He will serve a second term as a legal consultant for the North Carolina Medical Society Ethical and Judicial Affairs Committee.
- He will serve a second two-year appointment to the National Legal Committee of the American Health Care Association.
And finally, he’s going to keep publishing this newsletter! Congratulations, and thank you, Ken, for all you do.