(Manchester, NH, October 4, 2021) – Sheehan Phinney shareholder Katherine M. Hanna was honored with the Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance’s Mary Ellen LaRoche Home Care Public Policy Award for her work championing revisions to New Hampshire’s Advance Directive laws. Dr. Philip Lawson, Littleton Regional Healthcare, was also recognized with the award.
“Advocating for the bill was a team effort involving many people, but these two individuals stand out because they weren’t representing any particular organization, says Gina Balkus, CEO of the Home Care Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire. “They were volunteers committed to improving New Hampshire’s law so patients could easily make their wishes known and providers could honor those wishes without unnecessary legal barriers.”
The Mary Ellen LaRoche Home Care & Hospice Public Policy Award was created in honor of Mary Ellen LaRoche, the director of Carroll County Health and Home Care Services. The Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire enhances the ability of home care agencies to provide the best care possible to New Hampshire residents through education, advocacy, leadership and networking.
Hanna is the former Chair of the firm’s Healthcare Practice Group, and serves as general and special counsel to hospitals, specialty hospitals, long-term care facilities, home health and hospice organizations, physician practices, dental practices, and individual practitioners, including physicians, dentists, APRN’s, PA’s and mental health counselors. She has had substantial experience in state and federal government, having served as Policy Director and Legal Counsel to Governor John Lynch, an elected Representative to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and a Legislative Assistant in the United States Senate.
Hanna was recently named as New Hampshire’s Healthcare Lawyer of the Year for 2021 by Best Lawyers of America®. She is a two-time recipient of the NH Bar Association President’s Award for Distinguished Public Service and received the 2015 -Dunfey-Kanteres Award, NH Democratic Party. Hanna is admitted in New Hampshire and received her B.A., cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College and her J.D. from Boston College Law School.
About the Firm
Sheehan Phinney is a full service business law firm representing local, national and international clients with innovative approaches and practical solutions. Founded in 1937, Sheehan Phinney has grown to over 60 attorneys with four offices throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts and is known for professional excellence, practical counsel and commitment to both its clients and the communities it serves. Sheehan Phinney is the exclusive member in New Hampshire of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of premier independent law firms.