June 11, 2016 – Karen Owens and Sam Coppersmith presented a workshop at the 20^th Annual Western Regional Trustee Symposium to help new hospital trustees navigate their often challenging roles.

The seminar entitled “The Trustee Toolkit Mini-Workshop” was tailored specifically for new hospital trustees and examined key legal issues likely to face them as they serve their hospitals. These include fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, nonprofit and public hospital standards (community need, tax-exemption, open meeting laws, public finance), and defenses for board members who act in good faith.

Karen and Sam, who both serve as counsel to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, also tackled medical staff relations matters, such as credentialing and corrective action; licensure and accreditation; and key healthcare laws affecting hospitals, including Stark, AntiKickback, HIPAA, EMTALA, Antitrust and the integration of payment and quality under the Affordable Care Act and other laws. Karen, a member of the firm’s healthcare practice group, and Sam, a real estate and transactional lawyer, drew on their different skill sets to provide a wide ranging legal overview. Participants left the session with a better understanding of their duties as trustees and the legal parameters within which their hospitals operate.

Held from June 8-10 in Phoenix, the conference brought together hospital and healthcare trustees and executives to network and collaborate on tackling the important issues of the day. Hospital associations from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming attended the Symposium, which featured three keynote speakers, the mini workshop, nine breakout sessions and a special bonus session.