By Konrad Solberg 

Healthcare providers have known for years that a patient’s health depends on a complex network of factors.  

For example, they may treat a child with severe asthma who lives in an apartment filled with mold that the landlord refuses to remediate, or an older adult who missed a utility bill and can’t use electrically powered medical equipment because their power is shut off. 

This intersection of public health and legal services is what inspired Allison Held, director of the VCU Health Medical-Legal Partnership, to enlist organizations around the commonwealth to address the needs of these patients. 

“The National Center for MLP now uses the phrase ‘legal care is healthcare,’” Held said. “If someone is being evicted from their home, they’re less likely to show up for their doctor appointments or adhere to rigorous treatment plans."  

The VCU Health Medical-Legal Partnership, MLP for short, has spent nearly 10 years connecting lawyers directly to patients and healthcare teams, treating legal issues like housing and insurance as a vital component of patient health. Now, the VCU Health-based program is leading the charge to support the implementation and sustainability of MLPs to regions across Virginia.

VCU Health truly believes in treating the whole patient. And lawyers are an important part of a patient’s healthcare team. 

Allison Held, director of the VCU Health Medical-Legal Partnership

Working with the National Center for MLP, VCU Health created the Virginia MLP Coalition – a forum for health systems, hospitals, legal aid organizations and private attorneys to connect, share best practices and build a stronger network of Virginia-based MLPs. To officially kick off the group’s work, the VCU Health MLP hosted a webinar in the spring and convened its first planning meeting in June. 

“By working together across Virginia, we can build the infrastructure, share the tools, and accelerate adoption [of MLPs] so that access to justice becomes part of how we deliver care statewide,” said Marlon Levy, M.D., MBA, CEO of VCU Health, in remarks ahead of the spring meeting. 

Coalition forms to grow medical-legal partnerships across Virginia 

Medical-legal partnerships began with the founding of the first MLP at Boston Medical Center in 1993. They offer a wide array of services such as training hospital staff to identify patients in need of legal aid, educating patients on their rights, and providing pro bono services when needed. Essentially, if a patient has a legal emergency that impacts their health, providers can refer them to the MLP team. 

“Many of the factors that shape health outcomes – housing stability, transportation, access to benefits, safety and income security – fall outside the traditional scope of healthcare. Medical-legal partnerships offer a powerful and practical strategy to address those drivers of health,” Levy said during the spring meeting. “By integrating legal expertise into healthcare teams, we can remove barriers that medicine alone cannot solve.” 

Today, there are nearly 500 such MLPs across the country, and research indicates these partnerships are improving the full spectrum of patient health, including physical health, mental health and cognitive development. 

Here at home, Held’s team faces a high demand for their services. 

From July 2024 to June 2025, her team received nearly 700 referrals and opened approximately 450 new cases. For the 2026 fiscal year, the MLP opened nearly 500 cases from roughly 730 referrals. 

“VCU Health truly believes in treating the whole patient,” Held said. “And lawyers are an important part of a patient’s healthcare team.” 

As one of a handful of MLPs operating in Virginia, the VCU Health MLP serves the Richmond area, but sees growing need beyond. Held and her team are receiving more requests from patients who live too far away for them to provide assistance. 

By forming the statewide group, Held’s long-term goal is to ensure that patients and families across Virginia have access to legal services through their healthcare providers in their own communities. 

“MLPs have taken their rightful place as a critical innovation in healthcare and legal service delivery. We believe they should be a part of standard healthcare across the commonwealth,” Held said.

Allison Held is the director of the VCU Health Medical-Legal Partnership. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

At VCU Health, we know that good health requires more than good healthcare. Learn more about the medical-legal partnership program.

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