Ballard Spahr Partner Denise Keyser says San Miguel Hospital Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) tells in-house counsel in the health care industry that the NLRB's August 2011 decision in Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile won't bleed into the acute-care sector.

In Specialty Healthcare, the board hinted that it may be willing to approve a larger number and more types of bargaining units in nonacute-care facilities. In its D.C. Circuit appeal, San Miguel argued that Specialty Healthcare undermined the Health Care Rule, which limits the number and types of bargaining units allowed in acute-care facilities. But the D.C. Circuit disagreed, saying Specialty Healthcare only applies to nonacute-care facilities.

“If anyone was thinking that after Specialty Healthcare the Health Care Rule would somehow go away, it's pretty clear that it's not,” Keyser says. “The board is very comfortable with the rule, and the courts are comfortable enforcing it.”

Ballard Spahr Partner Denise Keyser says San Miguel Hospital Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) tells in-house counsel in the health care industry that the NLRB's August 2011 decision in Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile won't bleed into the acute-care sector.

In Specialty Healthcare, the board hinted that it may be willing to approve a larger number and more types of bargaining units in nonacute-care facilities. In its D.C. Circuit appeal, San Miguel argued that Specialty Healthcare undermined the Health Care Rule, which limits the number and types of bargaining units allowed in acute-care facilities. But the D.C. Circuit disagreed, saying Specialty Healthcare only applies to nonacute-care facilities.

“If anyone was thinking that after Specialty Healthcare the Health Care Rule would somehow go away, it's pretty clear that it's not,” Keyser says. “The board is very comfortable with the rule, and the courts are comfortable enforcing it.”