Healthcare Providers

Representative Cases

BrownWinick attorneys Rebecca Brommel, Catherine Cownie and Michael Jenkins successfully defended the award of a Certificate of Need to St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. St. Luke’s received a Certificate of Need in April, 2014 for a linear accelerator and a computed tomography scanner, which will allow St. Luke’s to provide radiation therapy to cancer patients. Radiation therapy had previously only been able to be offered at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids, who vigorously objected to St. Luke’s application. Mercy appealed the issuance of the Certificate of Need to Polk County District Court. After briefing and oral arguments, Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger upheld the Iowa State Health Facilities Council’s award of the Certificate of Need to St. Luke’s.

Noridian Administrative Services, LLC v. Iowa Department of Human Services
Successfully challenged the Department's award of the state's largest contract for a new Medicaid Management Information System to another bidder. The District Court held that the procurement process had not been completed in accordance with the Department's RFP and thus, voided the contract awarded to the other bidder. The Department was required to re-issue an RFP and start the bidding process anew.

Iowa Dental Association v. Iowa Insurance Division
Obtained a successful result for the Iowa Dental Association, in an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court relating to the interpretation and application of a new Iowa statute related to non-covered services. The statute prohibited insurance companies from setting fees on services that were not covered under the dental plan. The Iowa Supreme Court ultimately agreed with the interpretation asserted by the Iowa Dental Association, which the insurance companies had vigorously fought through the declaratory order and judicial review proceedings.

Arbor Court v. Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals
Obtained a successful result for our client, Arbor Court, a nursing facility located in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on a citation issued by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Arbor Court was cited by the Department for certain failure related to the care of a resident who incurred bed sores. Arbor Court maintained that the sores resulted from the resident's multiple health issues as well as his refusal to comply with doctor's orders. The citations were challenged through a contested case proceeding, which resulted in the administrative law judge dismissing the citation in its entirety.

Dubuque Retirement Community v. Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals
Successfully challenged the penalties issued by the Department of Inspections and Appeals issued against Dubuque Retirement Community ("DRC"), which was an assisted living facility. DRC was challenging numerous citations levied against it by the Department over several months. BrownWinick represented DRC at the contested case proceeding, the judicial review proceeding in District Court and in front of the Iowa Court of Appeals. The District Court reversed the penalties assessed, because they failed to meet constitutional standards. The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed one of the specific findings due to the lack of notice in the rules as to the particular citation. Both the District Court and Iowa Court of Appeals findings resulted in changes to the Department's administrative rules.

Birchansky Real Estate/Fox Eye Surgery, LLC, et al. v. St. Luke's Hospital, et al.
Successfully represented St. Luke's Hospital before the Iowa Supreme Court in the judicial review of the Iowa Department of Health's denial of Birchansky Real Estate's request for a Certificate of Need to open an outpatient surgical facility. Birchansky attempted to utilize an exception to Iowa's Certificate of Need law to become the successor to an ambulatory surgery center operated by St. Luke's Hospital. The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the agency properly denied Birchansky's request. Birchansky subsequently attempted to obtain another Certificate of Need as Fox Eye Surgery and was again denied by the agency. The agency and St. Luke's, as an intervenor in the case, successfully defended such denial at both the district court and the Iowa Court of Appeals.

In a related case, St. Luke's also assisted in obtaining the assessment of a penalty against Birchansky for his repeated violations of Iowa Certificate of Need law. This case also was affirmed by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Magellan Healthcare Services v. Highmark Life Insurance Company
Obtained a ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court affirming summary judgment for Magellan on a reinsurance contract claim involving Highmark's failure to reimburse Magellan approximately one million dollars for medical expenses Magellan paid for an employee's child who was treated for cancer.

* Past results are reported to provide the reader with an indication of the type of litigation in which we practice and do not and should not be construed to create an expectation of result in any other case as all cases are dependent upon their own unique fact situation and applicable law.

Previous Events

• Case Law Update (May 23, 2019)
• Social Media in the Long Term Care Setting (January 11, 2018)
• Training for DONs and Assistant DONs on Hiring, Firing and Other Employment Actions (October 18, 2017)
• Dealing with Healthcare Fraud, Waste and Abuse Investigations (August 17, 2017)
• Iowa Certificate of Need Program: Overview and Legislative Update (May 23, 2017)
• Legal Check-Up (May 05, 2017)
• Dealing with Resident Non-Payment and Involuntary Discharges (May 04, 2017)
• Challenging Citations: IDRs, ICs and Contested Cases (February 01, 2017)
• HIPAA Checkup: How Long Has It Been Since Your Organization Has Looked at its HIPAA Compliance Program? (December 16, 2016)
• General Overview of Managed Care Organizations (MCO) (December 12, 2016)
• Contract Negotiation: Getting to "Yes" Without Surprises (October 14, 2016)
• Paying the Price: Dealing with Resident Non-Payment and Involuntary Discharges (October 11, 2016)
• Appealing MCO Decisions: Perspectives and Guidance from Members and MCO Counsel (October 05, 2016)
• The Elder Justice Act: Elder Abuse is Now a Federal Issue (July 19, 2016)
• Health Law Hot Topics: Employment Law, MCO Update, Fraud and Abuse (May 04, 2016)
• "Things to Watch Out for" in Physician Employment Contracts (March 12, 2016)
• HIPAA Compliance (March 12, 2016)
• Medicaid Fraud, Waste and Abuse (May 07, 2015)
• OSHA, HIPAA and Licensure Regulations (May 01, 2015)
• Business Aspects of Your Dental Practice (May 01, 2015)
• Regulatory Issues Facing Community Providers (March 11, 2015)
• Current Issues Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (February 26, 2015)
• Des Moines District Dental Society (October 17, 2014)
• Health Care Reform - 2014 ABI Conference (June 09, 2014)
• 2013 Nuts & Bolts of HIPAA (October 15, 2013)