Monica Wilkinson Joins Dykema as Senior Counsel In Detroit

Dykema announces that Monica B. Wilkinson has joined the firm as Senior Counsel in the Health Care Practice Group, resident in the Detroit office. Prior to Dykema, Wilkinson was Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC), a multi-hospital academic medical center Southeast Michigan. In that capacity, Wilkinson managed the DMC corporate legal department, overseeing a diverse array of legal issues ranging from physician and managed care contracting, regulatory compliance, self-insured employee health plan, and patient care issues, to information privacy and security, research and medical staff matters.

In addition to serving as lead counsel for managed care operations, Wilkinson led the DMC legal team in its creation of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) — a new payment and health delivery system under the federal health care reform law. She also provided counsel to DMC senior management as the enterprise transitioned from a nonprofit to a for-profit corporation. In both her DMC and predecessor private practice experience Wilkinson has advised and represented hospitals, physician groups, managed care clients and other health care providers on a wide variety of issues ranging from the regulation of hospital-physician financial relationships, clinical research compliance, HIPAA, licensure/certification, contracts, provider networks, and governance matters.

Maria B. Abrahamsen, leader of Dykema’s Health Care Practice, notes, “Monica’s years of experience as in-house counsel, coupled with her deep understanding of emerging health care delivery and financing models, provide a special insight and unique perspective that our many clients in the health care industry are sure to value.”

Wilkinson is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the State Bar of Michigan Health Care Law Section, where she served as a two term Council member and the Chair in 2010-11. She also sat on the Legal and Operational Policy Committee of the Federation of American Hospitals. In addition, Wilkinson has taught at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, serving one year as Adjunct Professor, Bioethics at Wayne State University Law School and five years as Clinical Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, Bioethics, at Oakland University.

Wilkinson has a B.A. from Michigan State University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as an Associate Editor, Law and Policy in International Business.