Rick’s practice is devoted to regulatory compliance issues affecting health care facilities. Prior to joining Starnes Davis Florie, he worked as an attorney and senior manager at the Alabama Department of Public Health. For the last fifteen years of his career there, Rick directed the agency that inspects and regulates all health care facilities in the State of Alabama.
Professional Recognition
- Rick has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and numerous committees in the Alabama Legislature
- He has appeared on the NPR program, “Talk of the Nation,” and has been quoted in USA Today and U.S. News & World Report on health care regulatory issues
Community Involvement
St. Peter Catholic Church, Montgomery, Alabama:
- Current Chair, Finance Council
- Past Chair, Parish Council
- Youth religious education instructor (current)
Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School:
- President, Advisory Council
Catholic Social Services of Montgomery:
- Vice-president, Advisory Council
Highlights
- Rick has taught investigative skills to the staffs of health care facility surveyors (inspectors) in Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Oregon, and has presented programs on investigative skills and assisted living regulation at the national meeting of the Association of Health Care Facility Survey Agencies, as well as the Alabama Nursing Home Association, the Assisted Living Association of Alabama, and the Alabama Medical Directors Association.
- He crafted many of the regulations and statutes that govern health care facilities in Alabama.
- Rick has also served as a professional consultant to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) on the issues of complaint investigation, supervisory review, guidance for declaring immediate jeopardy, and inconsistency in the citation of deficiencies.
Presentations and Publications
- Thinking Outside the Box, Act II: Global Perspective to Risk Management, Etc, Alabama Nursing Home Association Mid-Year Conference, Orange Beach, AL, April 27, 2022.
News & Insights
- US Department of Labor Announces Enforcement, Effort for Focused Inspections in Hospitals, Nursing Care Facilities Treating COVID-19 Patients
- Vaccine Mandate Update: OSHA Clear to Enforce, CMS in Limbo
- Biden-Harris Administration Issues Emergency Regulation Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for Health Care Workers
- OSHA Issues Vaccine Mandate: Common Questions on OSHA’s Large Employer Vaccine Mandate
- YES, YOU CAN REQUIRE YOUR EMPLOYEES TO GET THE VACCINE, BUT SHOULD YOU?
- Nursing Homes COVID-19 & CDC Reporting: Ensuring Compliance, Accuracy & Consistency
- COVID-19 Nursing Home Guidance – Compliance Recommendations & Checklists
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update for Long-term Care Facilities and Assisted Living: Update on Monitoring Requirements
- COVID-19 Nursing Home Guidance – Compliance Recommendations
- Starnes Davis Florie Attorney Rick Harris Speaks at Alabama Nursing Home Association Seminar
Fun Facts
Rick and his wife Joey have at two different times hosted exchange students, both of whom are from towns near the northern Adriatic coast of Italy. This now entitles them to a lifetime benefit of free housing and meals in the Emiglia-Romagna region of Italy, which they have redeemed twice already and plan to redeem repeatedly into the future.
Rick has recently discovered the Great Courses series, and enjoys binge-watching lectures on subjects “I should have taken in college but chickened out of.” Geology and Ancient Greek Philosophy are two examples.
