Richard D. Watters advises Missouri and Illinois health care clients on various matters, including, governance and corporate issues, licensing, accreditation, Stark, fraud and abuse, EMTALA, certificate of need, medical staff relations, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, Medicare, Medicaid and managed care contracting. He has obtained numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts for his nursing home and hospital clients in Medicaid rate appeals. Mr. Watters also represents health care institutions and professionals before regulatory agencies, licensing bodies, professional organizations, medical staff committees, P.R.O.s, Medicare and managed care. Mr. Watters has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (Health Care Law) for more than ten straight years and selected in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers since 2005.

Primary Practice Areas

• Health Care Law
• Administrative/Regulatory Law

Bar Admissions

• Supreme Court of Missouri, 1976
• Supreme Court of Illinois, 1977

Education and Academic Honors

• J.D., (cum laude), Saint Louis University, 1976
• B.S.I.E., Bradley University, 1973

Representative Clients

• Saint Francis Medical Center
• Tenet Healthcare Corporation
• Health Care Management, Inc.
• Sunrise Senior Living, Inc.
• Missouri Foundation for Health

Selected Lectures and Publications

• "Impact of New Networks on Hospital-Physician Relationships" (St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, January 1998)
• "Expanded Practice for Nurses and PAs" (Saint Louis University School of Law, March 1996)
• "The Collaborative Practice Act and Related Issues" (Fourth Annual Medical-Legal Symposium, September 1994)
• "Credentialing & Privileging: New Issues, New Challenges" (Hospital Services Group, September 1993)
• "The National Practitioner Data Bank: Is It a Necessary House of Horrors?" (The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, June 4, 1992)

Professional Affiliations

• American Health Lawyers' Association 
• American Bar Association 
  Forum Committee on Health Law
• The Missouri Bar 
  Health and Hospital Law Committee 
  Medical Legal Relations Committee
• Illinois State Bar Association
  Health Law Section
• The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis 
  Medical-Legal Committee
• St. Louis County Bar Association
• Missouri Society of Health Care Attorneys 
  President, Board of Directors, 1990-1991
• St. Louis Health Care Lawyers

Community Service and Awards

• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, 2005-Present
  Top 50 St. Louis, 2005 & 2007
  Top 100, 2005
• The Best Lawyers in America, 1991-Present
• Certified Health Care Mediator
• Who's Who in American Law, 1992-Present
• "Leadership - St. Louis," 1988-1989
• United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater St. Louis
  President and Chairman of the Board, 1985-1986
• Medical Ethics Committee of DePaul Health Center, 1990-2005
• Instructor in Law, Saint Louis University, 1977-1979; Continuing lecturer, Schools of Nursing and Health Administration

Employment

• Lashly & Baer, P.C.
  Member, 1982-Present
  Associate, 1976-1981
  
  
  
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