Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook

The Kitch firm has been representing hospitals for over 40 years, with considerable attention given to adapting to best meet clients' needs.  Recognizing the close link between legal issues and the underlying hospital operations, the firm has undertaken a significant effort to develop expertise in various hospital operations.  This results in an exceptional level of counsel for the hospitals that Kitch serves...tremendous legal analysis backed by a thorough understanding of the hospital operations.

Additionally, our expertise in operations allows us to provide consulting services to boards and management. Our staff includes:

--A former health system and hospital President and CEO
--A former health system general counsel
--Members of several hospitals' boards of directors
--Former nurse managers
--A Diplomat in the American College of Healthcare Executives

Examples of services include:

• Governance - Drafting and updating governance documents; providing counsel on issues related to quality, risk management, medical staff issues, and insurance issues.
• Regulatory - Provide legal and consulting analysis related to HIPPA, JCAHO accreditation, and CONs.  (See compliance area.)
• Medical Staff - Assist in peer review, quality assurance, and physician disciplinary actions.
• Real Estate - Review construction contracts, development of medical office buildings.
• Human Resources - Assist with labor negotiations and grievances, employee discipline, development of policies and procedures.  (See Labor and Employment.)
• Physicians - Draft employment contracts, develop joint ventures, and assist in recruitment.
• Patient Safety/Quality/Risk Management - Provide guidelines and tools, such as incident reports and reports of sentinel events.  Defending significant numbers of malpractice cases has given the firm unique insight into what steps can be taken to prevent problems.
• Patient Issues - Informed consent, advanced directives, guardianship issues, patient's rights.
• Medical Research - Establishment and management of institutional review boards.

The Kitch firm was co-founded in Detroit in 1969 by Richard A. Kitch and Richard F. Suhrheinrich, now a Senior Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge.

Historically, the Firm has attracted a diverse pool of attorneys and staff, seeking only the most talented individuals to serve our clients.

The Kitch firm was recognized in 2006 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as the Detroit area law firm with the highest percentage of women attorneys (41%) and the highest percentage of female partners (27%).

The Kitch firm recognizes and celebrates the concept of diversity and  equal opportunity in the workplace.