Herman Marshall III of Woods Rogers in Roanoke has been honored as “Friend of NCHN” for the second time. Here is a press release from the association:

On April 19, 2010, for the second consecutive year, the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association (NCHN) announced their national award winners during their annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. Heman A. Marshall, III, Principal with Woods & Rogers Attorneys at Law, was the recipient of the first annual Friend of NCHN Award. The Friend of NCHN Award is given to recognize a program, institution, agency, or individual that has advocated for or provided extraordinary support to the Association.

In the past four (4) years, Heman Marshall, III, has contributed many hours of volunteer service to NCHN, including extensive work with the NCHN Board of Directors and By-Laws Committee. Marshall has presented at numerous NCHN Conferences and Regional Meetings and has provided training for Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) network grantees, in conjunction with NCHN’s annual conferences.

As a Principal with Woods Rogers Attorneys at Law, Marshall has served as the Coordinator of the firm’s Health Law Practice Section since its inception in the early 1980’s and was the initial Chairman of the Virginia Bar Association Health Law Section and the Virginia State Bar Antitrust, Franchise and Trade Regulations Sections, and is currently a member of the Governing Counsel of the Virginia Bar Association Health Law Section. He has lectured extensively to attorneys and health care professionals and numerous topics. In addition, Marshall is a published author and is listed in the “Best Lawyers in American” under the categories of both Health Care Law and Antitrust.  He was recently made a member of “Outstanding Lawyers of America” and s a fellow of both the Virginia Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation.

“Heman has been a valuable asset to NCHN and our work over the past four years,” stated Rebecca J. Davis, Ph.D, the Executive Director of NCHN.  “Without his support and dedication to the Association over the past four years, our significant growth and expansion would not have been possible. He has contributed many hours of volunteer work to NCHN and our members that has enabled us to streamline our Business Partner Program application process, update and amend our by-laws, and provide direction on Health Information Technology and its implementation into health network s across the nation. We are greatly indebted to Mr. Marshall for his support, leadership, and his unselfish volunteerism to the Association.”

By definition, health networks are formed when three or more health care providers formally come together to better meet the needs of patients in their service area. These providers often include hospitals, community health centers, critical access hospitals, physician practices, mental health providers, rural health clinics and other for-profit and not-for-profit health care organizations. These networks work to increase access to quality health care for local patients and streamline the cost of that care, as well.

NCHN is a national level professional membership organization of health network leaders across the nation. Its mission is to support and strengthen health alliances through collaboration, networking, leadership development and education. The Association has members in 33 states. Its major focus in 2010 will be a continued emphasis on supporting Network Leaders across the nation through the expansion of the Executive Coaching Program, ongoing regional conferences and workshops, and the development of a Certification Program for Network Leaders.

For more information please go to www.nchn.org