MaryEllen S. Pickrell
Partner
Overview
MaryEllen Pickrell is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Ms. Pickrell advises healthcare companies and hospital systems when acquiring hospitals, healthcare facilities or physician practices and provides insight into the business side of transactional matters. With a strong corporate background, she provides real-world, strategic advice to companies on structuring myriad complex transactions in compliance with healthcare regulatory laws.
Ms. Pickrell advises providers on alignment strategies including the acquisition and divestiture of healthcare facilities, joint ventures with health systems, physicians and other healthcare providers, physician practice acquisitions and regulatory issues. Her extensive experience includes:
- acquisitions of tax-exempt facilities subject to state attorney general review
- purchases of distressed facilities
- joint ventures of hospital systems
- acquisitions of facilities in competitive situations
- acquisitions of physician practices
Ms. Pickrell's ability to handle client transactions from both financial and legal standpoints has made her a trusted advisor to CEOs, generals counsel and development officers seeking to increase market share or expand into new regions.
Representative Experience
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in its joint venture combining McKesson Corporation's US Oncology Research (USOR) and HCA Healthcare's Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI)
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in its purchase of Meadows Health in Vidalia, Georgia; Meadows' system included the 104-bed Meadows Regional Medical Center, a 15,000-square-foot cancer center and a network of 16 physician practices
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in its acquisition 10 BetterMed urgent care centers in Virginia plus two additional urgent care centers in North Carolina; with the addition of the newly purchased clinics, HCA has more than 240 urgent care centers nationwide
- Advised HCA Healthcare Inc. in the acquisition of outstanding interests in 18 CareSpot urgent care facilities in Tennessee and Missouri
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in its acquisition of 24 Texas MedSpring urgent care centers from Fresenius Medical Care
- Advised HCA Healthcare Inc. in its $450 million asset purchase of Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in its acquisition of Richmond, Virginia-based BetterMed, an urgent care practice with 12 locations
- Served as special healthcare counsel to HCA Healthcare Inc. in the acquisition of Meadows Regional Medical Center and part of Meadows Health
- Assisted HCA Healthcare Inc. in preparing for and commencing participation in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced model
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. and its Methodist Physicians group practice in San Antonio, Texas in its acquisition of RiverCity CardioVascular, a comprehensive cardiology practice with 11 physicians specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and peripheral vascular heart disease
- Represent HCA Healthcare Inc. in a variety of intellectual property matters, including software licensing and information system analysis related to its transactions
- Represented HCA Healthcare Inc. in a joint venture development agreement for an academic medical center in Florida
Credentials
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D.
- Williams College, B.A.
- Tennessee
- Nashville Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- ABA Health Law Section
- American Health Law Association
- Nashville Health Care Council
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Corporate Law, 2009-2022, 2025; Mergers and Acquisitions, 2023-2024; Health Care Law, 2025
- Nashville Business Journal's Health Care Innovation Awards, Legal Champion, 2021