Lawyer Bio : Thomas S. Stukes

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Thomas S. Stukes

"Tom"

Greensboro

Tom Stukes is Practice Group Leader of the Health Care Group of Womble Carlyle and represents hospital systems, academic medical centers and other health care providers, provider networks, management services organizations, and managed care organizations throughout the Southeast.
 
Tom has handled over 40 hospital and medical center acquisitions, sales, mergers, consolidations, conversions and restructurings of public, nonprofit and for-profit clients and has been instrumental in the formation of a number of the largest hospital systems in North Carolina. 
 
Health care providers have engaged Tom to form numerous joint ventures among hospitals, physicians and other health care providers, including imaging centers, ambulatory surgical centers, managed care networks, home health agencies and technology companies. One of the largest hospital companies in the country has consulted Tom on the development of innovative joint ventures.
 
Tom obtained the first approval from the North Carolina Department of Insurance for risk-bearing provider owned managed care networks designed for self-funded employers and has assisted in the formation and representation of provider-owned HMOs and health plans, including negotiation of risk based and non-risk based participation agreements with hospitals, physicians, and other providers.
 
Hospitals and other health care clients regularly consult with Tom in connection with government investigations and voluntary disclosures for violations of Medicare and other governmental laws regulating the health care industry.  In the last five years, he has supervised the voluntary repayment of over $5 million to federal and state governments with respect to billing irregularities without governmental action being brought against the affected providers.
 
Academic medical centers across the country have consulted with Tom about financial transactions and arrangements, compliance with government regulations, and the operation and reimbursement for graduate medical education programs.
 
The North Carolina Hospital Association and the North Carolina Medical Society presented Tom with the pen that Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. used to sign into the law health care legislation which enabled the development of provider sponsored health plans in North Carolina.

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Professional Activities

Bar Associations: North Carolina Bar Association, Health Law Section; American Bar Association; Guilford County Bar Association; American Health Lawyers Association; North Carolina Society of Health Care Attorneys.

Admitted to bar: 1974, North Carolina. Admitted to practice in the United States District Court, Middle District of North Carolina. Listed in the Health Law Section of The Best Lawyers in America for the last 10 years.

Civic Activities

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Parents Council.

Alumni Board of Directors - University of North Carolina School of Law.

Board of Directors - Greensboro Cerebral Palsy Association.

Education

B.A., American Studies, 1970, University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill, with honors; J.D., 1974, University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill, with honors; Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, North Carolina Law Review.

Prior Legal Experience

Partner, Smith Moore, LLP, Greensboro, NC, March 2002 -- August 2003; Partner, Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore, LLP, January 1986 -- March 2002; Partner, Smith Moore Smith Schell & Hunter, December 1980 -- January 1986; Associate, Smith Moore Smith Schell & Hunter, August 1974 -- December 1980.

Presentations

Recruitment Assistance to Faculty and Medical Teams: Unique Arrangements and Issues for Academic Medical Centers, 2007 Program: Legal Issues Affecting Academic Medical Centers & Other Teaching Institutions, American Health Lawyers Association, Washington, D.C., January 25-26, 2007.

Emerging Tax and Governance Guidance: The New Era of Hospital Accountability, Seeing the Forest and the Trees 2006 Health Law Section Annual Meeting, North Carolina Bar Association , Cary, N.C., May 5, 2006.

Legal Update: Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Leaders Institute, North Carolina Hospital Association, Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 21-23, 2006.

Hospital/Physician Competition and Collaboration in a Fluid Market, Rowland Memorial Library Health Planning Seminar, sponsored by The Duke Endowment and the North and South Carolina Hospital Associations, Charlotte, N.C., May 2004.

Hospital Regulatory Environment and Best Practices for the Governing Board, Leaders' Institute, North Carolina Hospital Association, Hilton Head, S.C., April 2004.

Tough Issues in Hospital Physician Relations, Leaders' Institute, North Carolina Hospital Association, Hilton Head, S.C., April 2004.

Emergency Medical Treatment, Transfers and Discharges (EMTALA), Patient & Provider Rights Manual; presented at North Carolina Hospital Association Meetings, Raleigh and Hickory, N.C., May 2003.

Health Care Law Update, presented to North Carolina Association of CPAs 63rd Annual Symposium, Greensboro, N.C., October 30, 2002.

Health Law Update, presented to Triad Healthcare Executive Forum's Annual Health Law Update, Greensboro, N.C., October 23, 2002.

Hospital-Physician Joint Ventures In A Tight Capital Market: Choosing Wisely, Building For Success, presented to Hospital Leaders Institute, North Carolina Hospital Association, Hilton Head, S.C., April 27, 2002.