Karey W. Gardner

Karey W. Gardner is passionate about representing physicians, nurses, clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes on a wide scope of health care issues, such as physician contracting, medical staff bylaws and rules, buy/sell agreements, employment discrimination, and licensing issues.  She also has substantial experience in regulatory and compliance issues pertaining to HIPAA, EMTALA, Stark Law, the federal Anti-Kickback and False Claim Acts, and the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud Act.  She brings her extensive experience in the healthcare industry from advising individual practitioners to multi-hospital systems on matters of regulatory and compliance, contractual, transactional and corporate matters and many other areas specific to healthcare to this arena giving her a unique set of skills to help parties understand the issues and move matters toward resolution.  

 

Previous Experience

Prior to entering private practice, Gardner served for six years as the Director of Risk Management for the CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas, where she was responsible for a comprehensive safety program covering an acute care hospital, rehabilitation hospital, ambulatory surgery center, PHO, and multiple outpatient clinics.  While at CHRISTUS St. Michael, Karey served as the Manager of the Medical Staff Department, where she oversaw hospital credentialing and privileging activities.  This gave her the opportunity to provide guidance in the development of various medical staff policies and procedures. Prior to her time at CHRISTUS St. Michael, Gardner, who is certified in risk management by MMI, worked for eight years at Arkansas Children's Hospital, including four years as Risk Manager. Ms. Gardner has educated others through lectures on HIPAA compliance as well as medical staff development issues in Arkansas and in Texas.

 

Education

Ms. Gardner is a 1994 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law, where she was a class representative on the Student Honor Council. Currently, she currently serves in a mentoring program for law school students.

 

Admissions

Karey is admitted to practice in the State of Arkansas, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts of Arkansas , and the United States Supreme Court.

 

Recognitions

• Best Lawyers in Little Rock - Soiree Magazine

• Arkansas Business Best Lawyers (Labor and Employment Law)

• Arkansas Money & Politics - 2021 Legal Elite

 

Professional Association & Civic Service

• Pulaski County Bar Association

• Arkansas Bar Association

• American Bar Associations

• American Health Lawyers Association.  

• Catholic Risk Managers’ Forum

• American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

• Member and officer of the local Christian Motorcycle Association

• Served as president and secretary of the North Little Rock Levy Chapter of the Arkansas Lions Club

• Past president of the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion Family Readiness Group from 2007-2009.