Health Care
The MLT Aikins health-care team provides diverse, quality service and works collaboratively with its clients in this area to ensure their success in the rapidly evolving health-care sector.
How we help
Our experience with the health-care sector includes providing advice on board governance, tax and general business, labour and employment law, privacy law, professional malpractice defence, labour standards and human rights matters, as well as substantive health law issues. We deal regularly with qualification and regulatory issues, both as they relate to professionals and health-care products. Our broad experience representing physicians and health organizations is augmented by the management experience of three of our senior partners who have served, or continue to serve, on the boards of management of acute care facilities. Our services to health-care organizations include:
- Health-care organizations in Canada must comply with privacy laws that govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information, such as the Health Information Act (Albera), the Personal Health Information Act (Manitoba), the Health Information Protection Act (Saskatchewan) and other similar legislation in various provinces. Navigating these requirements can be complex. MLT Aikins can help you stay compliant and manage risk.
- Our lawyers can help you complete a Privacy Impact Assessment for new health data processing activities.
- MLT Aikins also has experience in drafting privacy policies that inform individuals about how their personal health information is collected, used and disclosed. We also support health-care organizations in drafting data retention and destruction policies for personal health information.
- We have experience to help health-care organizations respond to patient requests for access, correction or deletion of health information and can help you review contracts with third-party vendors handling personal health information to ensure compliance with the relevant privacy legislation.
- Health organizations are prime targets for cyberattacks due to the sensitive nature of the information they handle. Cyber threats such as ransomware, phishing attacks and data breaches can disrupt patient care, compromise confidential records, and result in significant legal and financial consequences. To reduce these risks, health-care organizations should take proactive steps to strengthen cybersecurity. MLT Aikins can help you navigate cybersecurity requirements and manage these legal risks.
- The lawyers at MLT Aikins can help health-care organizations implement industry standard cybersecurity frameworks to protect personal health information, and advise health-care organizations of their legal obligation if personal health information is compromised in a cybersecurity incident.
- MLT Aikins can help health-care organization develop an incident response plan and help ensure organizations are equipped to train employees on cybersecurity best practices.
- Our lawyers can ensure health-care organizations have contractual provisions in place to protect them when sharing personal health information with service providers.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming health care by automating tasks, assisting in diagnostics and supporting patient management. As AI adoption grows, organizations must navigate privacy laws and regulatory requirements related to its use in health care. MLT Aikins can help you navigate these requirements and manage legal risks.
- The lawyers at MLT Aikins can assist health-care organizations in ensuring their AI systems comply with privacy laws governing health information and develop policies that govern the use of AI systems.
- MLT Aikins can also aid health-care organizations by reviewing and negotiating contracts with AI vendors to ensure there are sufficient privacy and security protections in place.
- MLT Aikins has extensive experience in collective bargaining and we understand the process for reaching a collective agreement that benefits employers and employees. We can assist with negotiation, drafting and ensuring the employer is complying with the collective agreement.
- MLT Aikins has experience in helping employers work through workplace accommodation requests, including helping employers develop accommodation options, requesting medical information when necessary, and helping the employer evaluate when there is no feasible accommodation option available.
- We understand the need for health-care organizations to create a culture of safety and trust for both employees and patients. MLT Aikins can help the employer build this culture by developing and drafting workplace policies and compliance procedures aimed at creating safe work environments.
- Our lawyers understand the importance of using well-drafted employment agreements outlining the employment relationship. With the employer’s input, MLT Aikins can help determine what is important for the health-care organization and draft employment agreements that will protect both the employer and employee throughout the employment relationship and in the event of a breakdown of the employment relationship.
- MLT Aikins has many trained and dedicated lawyers to help health-care organizations manage litigation over wrongful dismissal claims, human rights complaints, harassment complaints and more.
- MLT Aikins has extensive experience with trusts, estates and legacy planning, including drafting wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health-care directives. We regularly advise executors, trustees, corporate boards and beneficiaries on all aspects of estate administration and handle complex estate disputes.
- At MLT Aikins, we can assist with estate and succession planning for medical practitioners such as doctors, dentists and other health-care professionals, and our law firm has lawyers who are nationally recognized for dealing with issues of asset ownership, protection and distribution. Our lawyers can also provide legal guidance to executors managing estates with significant medical expenses.
- Our lawyers can help establish family trusts or other vehicles to ensure the smooth transition of medical practices, clinics or other health-care-related businesses, and advise on the legal implications of transferring ownership of a practice to partners, family members or external buyers. We can also structure trusts to protect personal assets from potential malpractice claims or litigation risks, and expand our practice to include specialized trusts for those with vulnerable beneficiaries (such as Qualified Disability Trusts).
- MLT Aikins lawyers can provide services related to drafting power of attorney documents and health-care directives and advise on whether health-care clinics have appropriate legal structures in place for continuity.
- We are also trained and able to help seniors and their families plan for transitions to assisted living or long-term care.
- MLT Aikins lawyers offer assistance in pre-sale planning for vendors and purchasers of health-care businesses.
- Our lawyers have experience in the development of operating structures for health-care clinics, including joint ventures, partnerships and cost-sharing arrangements.
- MLT Aikins lawyers are experienced advisers regarding local jurisdictional compliance related to health-care licensing and regulatory regimes and professional corporation regulations.
- Our lawyers can help health-care organizations with establishment and tax-efficient structuring of professional corporations, holding corporations and family trusts.
- We also offer support with estate planning, including wills, powers of attorney and advance health-care directives.
- MLT Aikins lawyers can assist health-care clients through every step of the procurement process, from the preparation of procurement documents through vendor evaluations and the negotiation and management of contracts.
- Involves the procurement of health-care supplies and equipment, technology solutions and specific services for health-care facilities.
- Help to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Implementing mechanisms to manage cost, mitigate risk, realize efficiencies, navigate disputes and meet regulatory standards.
- At MLT Aikins, we can assist with drafting and negotiating any contracts required for clinical trials, including research agreements, supply and distribution of clinical trial materials and funding agreements.
- We help clients with:
- Complying with federal, provincial and international laws and regulations.
- Identifying and allocating intellectual property rights arising from research.
- Ensuring that the rights of research participants are protected.
- Reviewing informed consent forms and study protocols.
- Establishing and maintaining compliance with research board requirements.
- We assist health-care clients with the development, negotiation, implementation, coordination and management of various inter-organizational agreements. This may include, memorandums of understanding, letters of intent, shared services agreements, research agreements, data sharing agreements and joint/shared access agreements.
- Our lawyers help with documenting relationships between various health-care organizations and providers to clarify roles, responsibilities and expectations and facilitate the provision of services within applicable legislative framework.
- We assist with the establishment and implementation of governance models involving multiple organizations.
- Health-care capital projects are becoming some of the most complex projects in Canada through the rapid development of medical technologies, science-backed research on functional programming and physical facility strategy, inflationary markets, limited contractor resources and facilitating end user consultation and input. With the increased complexity and increased demand for additional capacity, technology and overall access to health care, health-care infrastructure and capital projects need to move both rapidly and carefully.
- Our Infrastructure and Capital Projects Team has significant experience in assisting the development of health-care projects ranging from technological upgrades, major renovations, building of new facilities and design and construction of billion-dollar hospitals.
- We support health-care organizations through the entire project development process, from business case development, functional programming support, project delivery options analysis, procurement, contract development and negotiation and steady support throughout the construction and handover of the finished project.
- MLT Aikins lawyers are posed to provide steady and reliable thought leadership and project strategy backed by the experience necessary to drive successful project outcomes.
- MLT Aikins lawyers regularly advise health-care professionals on business structures, including professional corporations, partnerships and joint ventures for management and operation of their practices.
- MLT Aikins lawyers understand the evolving needs of health-care professionals, including assisting with their growth. Our lawyers are experienced in advising on commercial property purchases/leases for clinics and medical offices (including subleasing and licensing of premises for use by associates and locum practitioners).
- Our lawyers are also available to advise on purchase and sale transactions involving health-care practices.
Key Contacts
