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Combining Legal Services and Health Care Since 2001
It seems hard to believe that LegalHealth is marking its seventh anniversary. Our staff has increased to 16 professionals, serving all five boroughs with legal clinics in hospital internal medicine, oncology, pediatric, geriatric, emergency room and adolescent health departments, and two community health center clinics.
In many cases, medical and legal needs are inexorably linked. Our mission is to help physicians and attorneys work collaboratively to provide medical and legal care to low-income families and individuals who have serious health problems. We have a proven track record of cutting through obstacles to help underserved patients with issues that may adversely impact their housing accommodations, benefits continuation, private insurance coverage, debt collection, employment-related matters, immigration, and advance directives.
Our milestones over the past seven years include:
2001 Opened our first in-take site at CancerCare
2002 Established our first hospital legal clinic at Mt. Sinai's Pediatric Department.
2004 Introduced a new physician-centered training curriculum with the help of a medical consultant.
2005 Co-sponsored with Pfizer, the first conference in the country that brought together legal and medical professionals serving people with cancer.
2006 Published our first major article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, "The Attorney as the Newest Member of the Cancer Treatment Team."
2007 Concluded three major studies evaluating -- the positive financial impact of our services on our hospitals partners, how our services influence physician behavior and how our legal intervention improves the lives of people with cancer.
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 Randye Retkin,
Director
2008 Established a medical-advisory board, consisting of physicians and social workers from our partner sites, and spearheaded the New York State Coalition of Medical-Legal Partnerships and launched a National Technical Assistance Project. (Refer to the "Launch a Collaboration" section on this site for more information).
In 2009, we look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that await us. Our achievements thus far would not have been possible without the contribution made by our dedicated staff and medical professionals, as well as our funders.
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June 13, 2009
19th Annual Living with Cancer Conference
"Legal Issues and Cancer"
Rockefeller Research Conference Center (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center)
New York, NY
Speaker: Debra J. Wolf, Esq.
Continuing Presentations
CancerCare Telephone Education Workshop
Speaker: Debra J. Wolf, Esq.
Available as podcasts in RealPlayer and MP3, and telephone replay 24/7 for one year from Dec. 3, 2008
Cancer Care Click on Telephone Education Workshops icon on home page.
Click on "Cancer Type", then on: 12/03/08 - "Young Women with Breast Cancer: Treatment-Specific Choices, Fertility
and Careers"
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Sophia B.'s young daughter suffers from Rett Syndrome, a neuro-developmental disorder, resulting in
severe seizures and rapid body movement. Her daughter's pediatrician referred Sophia to LegalHealth
after her food stamp allowance was reduced to $14 per month. The LegalHealth attorney appealed
the reduction and found out that food stamps had been reduced because of the NYC Human Resources
Administration's (HRA) unwillingness to accept handwritten rent receipts as proof of rental expenses
despite the landlord's insistence to be paid solely in cash. LegalHealth successfully represented
Sophia on appeal. Sophia received $1,100 in retroactive benefits and ongoing monthly benefits of $168.
Now Sophia is able to prepare the high-caloric foods that her daughter requires to compensate for the
expended energy associated with Rett Syndrome.
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Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and New York State and City laws, if your
patients with a disability continue to work and are able to perform the essential functions of their
job, they may be eligible to seek a reasonable accommodation at work. For example, working hours can
be modified for an employee who suffers from chronic fatigue or who is under special medication that
has adverse side effects, or the employee can be allowed to occasionally work from home if the job
function does not require on-site performance. Specific ADA requirements can be found on:
http://www.eeoc.gov/types/ada.html
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