Washington, DC—Dentons announced today that the firm has added Catherine Hess as a partner in the Health Care practice. She joins the Washington, DC office from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) where she served as Senior Counsel.

Hess will focus her practice on government and internal investigations and Medicare and Medicaid compliance matters on behalf of health systems, hospitals, manufacturers and other health care organizations.  She joins other federal health care enforcement veterans at Dentons including D. McCarty (Mac) Thornton, former Chief Legal Counsel for HHS-OIG, and Sean Cenawood, former Chief of the Civil Frauds Unit at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

At the OIG, Hess oversaw, in partnership with the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys' Offices throughout the country, federal investigations involving alleged violations of the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and Civil Monetary Penalties Law.  She negotiated civil fraud settlements, Corporate Integrity Agreements and exclusion terms with national, regional and local health care systems, skilled nursing facilities, diagnostic testing facilities, physicians groups and other health care entities.

"As the government brings greater resources to enforce compliance in the health care sector, Cathy will leverage her extensive experience at the OIG to help Dentons' clients navigate federal and state regulatory scrutiny of the health care industry," said US managing partner Mike McNamara. "We are very pleased to welcome Cathy to our nationwide health care team."

Hess also gained significant policy experience at the OIG, serving in multiple roles that required collaboration across federal and state government agencies and prioritization of enforcement strategies.  She is a multiple recipient of the OIG's Exceptional Achievement Award.

Prior to OIG, Hess worked for the law firm of Alston & Bird, LLP, in the firm's Litigation and Government Investigations practices.  She earned her JD, magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University and her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.