In-house lawyers at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York know that medical care alone is not enough to heal patients who also suffer from legal problems that affect their well-being.

"For example, some people can't get better until you find a way to get them food, or transportation to a doctor," general counsel and executive vice president Beth Essig told Corporate Counsel.

That's why the in-house legal team helped establish and are expanding the Mount Sinai Medical-Legal Partnership, which brings pro bono lawyers to work with the system's neediest patients on issues including housing, education, immigration and personal safety issues.

On Nov. 8 Mount Sinai highlighted two recent partnership initiatives at an event honoring the work of the late Blaine "Fin" Fogg, a 30-year member of the health system's board of trustees, chair of its legal committee and president of the Legal Aid Society of New York until his death in July.

"Mr. Fogg's commitment to service inspired the formation of the [partnership] four years ago," said Essig, who started at Mount Sinai as an attorney in 1979 and has been general counsel for the last six years. "I have no doubt that the legacy of that commitment will continue to inspire the lawyers and others for many years to come."

She said the partnership now supports, through grants and special fundraising, some 13 medical-legal programs. The latest program which is about to start involves the use of artificial intelligence to pinpoint financially needy patients.

"We work closely with [outside] lawyers, social workers, nurses and physicians in an integrated team," Essig explained. "The need here is unlimited."

She said four of her 14 in-house lawyers volunteer to work on establishing and funding projects but can't represent patients. One is working on the AI project right now. Another helped set up a gender ID legal clinic that works with the gender ID clinic at the health system's Beth Israel hospital.

"Gender ID patients often need lawyers to help do a name change or deal with employment issues," Essig said. "Some have financial or other needs. Without too much effort, we find lawyers who provide legal services free to needy patients."

She said the hospital help set up a 501(c)(3) organization with its own board to raise funds for the partnership's initiatives. It recently hired a part-time director.

New York's law firms are also major contributors. At two small hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens, Essig said outside counsel Lawrence Fox, a litigation partner at Duane Morris, leads a law firm partnership initiative that helps patients and their families.

The partnership also uses dedicated lawyers from the New York City Bar Justice Center, and from Hughes Hubbard & Reed; Jenner & Block; Latham & Watkins; Schulte Roth & Zabel; and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

A program that just started last week, and highlighted at the event, is a pediatric clinic to identify and address the legal needs of low-income pediatric patients and their families. "This is a group with substantial unmet needs that can have lifelong consequences," Essig said. "Lawyers who volunteer love this work—imagine how rewarding it is."

Another highlighted initiative is a year-old program that provides legal services for patients at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Child and Family Services to help the families navigate the special education system. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and its Criminal Justice Investment Initiative awarded funds to the Legal Aid Society to provide two full-time attorneys to the project.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., keynote speaker at the event, said in a statement, "The role of law enforcement in the twenty-first century is not merely to arrest and prosecute. We can deliver greater public safety and healthier communities if we prevent young people from coming into contact with the justice system in the first place."