Prudenti: Hofstra, Northwell, seek medical, legal partnership

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When poor health or disease is a symptom of economic instability, discrimination, substandard housing, immigration stresses or lack of access to decent food and water, a lawyer rather than a doctor may be the first line of defense in dealing with the cause and not just the effect.

Ideally, in those situations an attorney well-trained and well-versed in the physical manifestations of social ills would partner with a medical professional to provide an integrated, holistic response. Anything else is just a Band-Aid.

At Hofstra Law, we are working toward a novel medical-legal partnership with Northwell Health, building on the university’s long and productive relationship with Northwell. Hofstra and Northwell have been equal partners in operating the Zucker School of Medicine, and that partnership has greatly benefited the hospital, the med school and the community. Now, it’s time to bring the law school into the mix.

We are working to finalize what we are calling the Hofstra Law/ Northwell Health Medical Legal Partnership, or MLP for short.

The aim is to unite lawyers and clinicians in a patient-centered care initiative and eliminate, wherever possible, the legal barriers that sometimes stand in the way of good health, and often cause ill-health. I believe this approach is good for the law school, good for Northwell, good for the community, and good for business. Public health problems affect all of us, and I have no doubt that a little preventative legal medicine would go a long way.

Although still in the planning/ proposal stage, we are looking at a multi-pronged approach that would include specialized training for both the law students and the clinicians, patient education, advocacy and systemic policy reforms.

The educational component seeks to break down professional blockades and foster collaboration and communication between the two disciplines. Certainly, lawyers have much to learn from medical professionals, and vice versa.  It is our hope that inter-professional training will result in cross-pollination, with each discipline adding their own skill set to the mix to deliver the best health care for the patients.

Community education is equally important. The MLP team we envision would present programs on the link between health and the law so people are aware of the legal, medical and social service safety nets that may be available.

As the team works with people, it would assume an advocacy role, ensuring that each individual is aware of and afforded his or her rights. And as time goes on and flaws in the current system become clearer, we envision proposing necessary legal reforms to close loopholes and eliminate cracks in the system.

Some of the initiatives — such as dealing with landlord/ tenant issues, immigration/deportation issues, disability/civil rights issues and family law issues — would begin immediately. Others would evolve over time as we learn more about and adjust to the nuances of the problem.

The proposed Northwell partnership is one of several that we are exploring at Hofstra Law. We are also considering a JD/ Nurse practitioner program, an expansion of our JD/ MBA program, MA in Biolegal Ethics, and the possibility of a MD/JD program in the future.

I think all of us in the professions need to be reminded that none of our specialties is an island or a silo, and that we are part of a very large puzzle. The goal is a better community, and I think by respecting and drawing from our respective areas of expertise, and sharing that knowledge across professional disciplines, we can best serve our society and our professions.

Judge Prudenti, is the Dean of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.