Throughout his 20-plus-year career, Keith has gained a wide range of experience in all aspects of health care program development, implementation, and litigation from the provider level to the governmental level. A skilled litigator, Keith has been involved in complex litigation matters, including institutional reform cases and class-action lawsuits. He is an experienced navigator of HIPAA and other state and federal confidentiality laws. Keith also has experience with matters involving third-party discovery, subpoenas, and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests.
Keith has particularly deep knowledge of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law and its associated regulations, standards, and procedures. He has been directly involved in the legislative process, including the continuation of assisted outpatient treatment (Kendra’s Law), and the development of the behavioral health component of the SAFE Act.
In his former position as assistant counsel with the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), Keith gained firsthand experience with the tsunami of integration and consolidation in the health care world. He was involved in numerous major hospital system reorganizations, affiliations, and mergers as well as the rapid growth of managed care in the provision of behavioral health services.
While working with OMH, Keith contributed to the successful development and implementation of joint licensure regulations, standards pertaining to the co-location of programs, and regulations permitting the use of telehealth for the delivery of behavioral health programs. He also led OMH’s response to several emergency program failures and helped develop a protocol for emergency program transitions. Keith has acted as a liaison to state agencies, judges and court personnel, law enforcement, and local government officials regarding program failures.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Keith was involved in efforts to develop regulatory flexibility benefiting service providers with respect to treatment planning, service delivery, confidentiality, and documentation. He was also involved in efforts to expand the use and availability of telehealth for the delivery of behavioral health services and in developing guidance with respect to the involuntary removal and retention of persons under Article 9 of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law.
Additionally, Keith served as a member of OMH's Emergency Response/Management Team and was redeployed to the agency's emergency response command post on 9/11 and during Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.