CARLISLE, Pa. — William L. “Bill” Weiner, Penn State Dickinson Law class of 1983, and his wife, Dr. Jean O. Fitzgerald, share a common professional interest in health care. With a combined six decades in the industry, the couple recognizes the critical need to ensure equitable health services for all.
Weiner represents physicians, group practices, medical device manufacturers, and other health care providers and privately held companies in transactional and regulatory matters. Fitzgerald is an obstetrician and gynecologist in Doylestown, a former chair of the OB/GYN Department of Doylestown Hospital, and a former member of the board of directors of the Bucks County Department of Public Health.
When the couple began discussing options for giving back to Penn State Dickinson Law, where Weiner serves on the Leadership Council Advisory Board, they were thrilled to learn about the Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) Clinic, which allows students to address health-related legal needs of community members through joint advocacy with providers.
They recently established the Jean O. Fitzgerald, M.D., and William L. Weiner Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic Fund, a nonendowed, spend-down fund that will provide $50,000 over five years to the clinic to support its current needs.
“We wanted to make a contribution to Penn State Dickinson Law in a meaningful way, and we felt supporting this clinic could have a real impact,” said Weiner, a partner with Holland & Knight in New York City.
He and Fitzgerald visited Carlisle to meet with Professor Medha D. Makhlouf, the founding director of the MLP Clinic, and learn more about her vision. They came away excited about the services the clinic offers for low-income families in central Pennsylvania.
“The more we learned about the clinic, the more interested we became in providing support,” Fitzgerald said. “It assists people who otherwise may not have the resources or opportunities to gain representation to advocate for them. It is challenging for many people to pay for that type of representation.”
"I am deeply honored by Bill and Jean's decision to support the MLP Clinic, our students and our work,” Makhlouf sai. “Their generosity will have an immediate and meaningful impact on the clinic's ability to take on more complex cases, support our clients, and engage with the communities we serve. Altogether, these activities will create a richer educational experience for students and inspire them as they launch their legal careers."
An introduction to health law
Weiner credits his desire to pursue health law to a course he took at Penn State Dickinson Law with Professor Arthur Frankston, which piqued his interest. Following a postgraduation clerkship with Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge J. Sydney Hoffman, Weiner joined a medical malpractice defense firm in Philadelphia.
“I learned I liked working with physicians and enjoyed learning more about health care,” Weiner said. “It also taught me I did not like litigation, so I gravitated toward the transactional and regulatory aspects of health care.”
Weiner also met his future wife through that job. A colleague at the law firm asked if she could introduce Weiner to her sister, Jean, who lived in Springfield. Weiner assumed his colleague was referring to the town in nearby Delaware County, but Fitzgerald was actually living in Springfield, Massachusetts, completing her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Baystate Medical Center.
Still, the two eventually connected and hit it off. After completing her residency, Fitzgerald moved back to the Philadelphia area and took a job in Doylestown, not far from where she grew up.
As the couple progressed in their careers, they saw the impact of regulation on health care access. Fitzgerald recalled a colleague whose teenage daughter developed a rare brain tumor. Her family had a difficult time securing approval from their health insurance company to have the surgery performed in a timely manner by the appropriate specialist.
“The hoops that family had to go through were incredible,” said Fitzgerald, who helped them find legal assistance to obtain the necessary insurance company approvals for the surgery. “There are many people who do not know the system and do not know how to advocate for something like that. This has gotten worse and worse for many people in our country.”
Witnessing situations like this helped spark Weiner’s and Fitzgerald’s interest in supporting a meaningful way to impact health care and the underserved, which led them to the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic.
‘A great appreciation for the importance of education’
The clinic has three main objectives: joint medical-legal advocacy, professional preparation of those who will serve the legal and health needs of others, and discovery of knowledge that will benefit all. Students participating in the clinic focus on direct representation of individuals in public benefits and limited immigration matters through partnerships with Penn State Health, Hamilton Health Center, Sadler Health Center, and other locations.
“The clinic does not just deal with the corporate aspect of medicine. It also helps people access health care. That was appealing to me,” Fitzgerald said.
MLP Clinic students’ work can include collaborating with health care providers to advocate for a client’s access to public benefits or immigration benefits, preparing an application for public benefits on behalf of a noncitizen client, and negotiating an agreement with a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services on behalf of a client who has applied for public benefits.
“We liked the idea that we could help make a difference in a small way to aid underserved communities in achieving this access,” Weiner said. “The clinic helps people not only know their rights but also advocate for them, which is something they would not otherwise be able to do as effectively on their own.”
The couple also recognizes the critical role donor support plays in making educational opportunities accessible to students as well. “Education allows people to reach new heights, improve their lives, and make the world a better place,” Fitzgerald said.
She and Weiner enjoy traveling the world in their spare time, especially when the trips involve learning about new things. They have visited Europe, Africa and the Galapagos Islands, and they recently returned from British Columbia.
“We both have a great appreciation for the importance of education and are thrilled to support a clinic that teaches practical skills and practical knowledge, in addition to the theoretical,” Weiner said.
Donors like Weiner and Fitzgerald advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.