Robert D. (Bob) Girard

Bob Girard has more than 30 years’ experience representing a wide range of institutional and professional health care providers, from health systems and IPAs to medical review organizations and academic institutions. He provides a broad range of legal services, concentrating on delivery systems, corporate governance, transactions, bankruptcy and reorganization, medico-legal matters, and legislative and regulatory work. Bob’s work regularly includes bioethics, service contracts, reimbursement, medical staffing, mergers and acquisitions, and counseling regarding related antitrust, tax and corporate securities issues.

Practice Highlights

• Assists hospitals, physician groups, and multi-hospital organizations in the development of physician hospital organizations, IPAs and other delivery system components, and in a variety of joint ventures
• Represents hospitals, medical schools, physicians, IPAs and other physician organizations in the negotiation of professional service contracts, recruitment agreements, contracts relating to physician teaching services, and regulatory and compliance issues arising in the context of such negotiations
• Serves as legal counsel to hospitals and hospital systems regarding restructuring of hospital corporate organizations; including formation and tax qualification of parent holding companies, fundraising foundations, and proprietary and nonprofit corporations
• Serves as lead counsel to both acquiring and selling organizations in the purchase of hospitals and other health care institutional organizations, with particular focus on the licensure and related regulatory and other compliance issues that arise in hospital affiliation and sale transactions
• Has assisted hospitals and health systems in workouts, bankruptcy-related transactions, spinoffs and other reorganizations involving the sale of facilities and assets. Represented clients in connection with several of the major health care industry bankruptcies in California, including appointment as Special Counsel for Health Care Matters to the Maxicare Creditors Committee
• Serves as counsel to hospitals and medical staff organizations on bioethics, medical staff and general operational issues of a medico-legal nature, including counsel of patient consent, death and dying, and related professional and peer review considerations, including reporting and disclosure issues and liability considerations
• Has drafted and provided advice to hospitals, health care industry and hospital associations, and other interested clients with regard to major regulatory legislation. Has prepared and/or presented testimony to the California legislature and to the U.S. Congress on several regulatory initiatives on matters such as HMO licensing requirements, pharmacy regulations, and self-insurance arrangements utilized by health care providers to provide workers' compensation coverage.