Gina Bertolini has been named chief counsel for health affairs at Emory Healthcare, effective September 1, 2025. Bertolini is a health care attorney with more than two decades of experience representing hospitals and health care systems.
In her new role, Bertolini will lead the legal team supporting Emory Healthcare. She previously worked as a partner in the Health Care Practice Group at K&L Gates in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Her earlier positions include serving as deputy general counsel for the University of Michigan, where she represented Michigan Medicine, and associate general counsel for the University of North Carolina Health System in Chapel Hill. She began her legal career as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins in Florida.
“Gina is an accomplished health care legal executive with a wealth of experience in academic medicine and health care legal practice,” said Joon S. Lee, MD, executive vice president for health affairs of Emory University and CEO of Emory Healthcare. “We look forward to the knowledge and collaborative mindset she will bring to our enterprise.”
Bertolini expressed enthusiasm about joining Emory: “I am thrilled to be joining Emory’s Office of General Counsel, which has and will continue to provide exceptional legal services to Emory Healthcare. I am also honored to join the Emory Healthcare leadership team, providing legal guidance as Emory Healthcare builds on its rich tradition of improving lives through compassionate patient care, clinical innovation and exceptional medical education.”
She holds a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago and earned her law degree from University of California Hastings College of Law (now U.C. Law San Francisco).
Bertolini takes over from Elizabeth (Beth) Clark Morrison, who has served as interim chief counsel for health affairs since September 2023. Morrison will transition into a similar leadership position for Emory University while continuing to oversee faculty, resident, and employment matters for both the School of Medicine and Emory Healthcare.
“I am grateful to Beth for her outstanding leadership as interim chief counsel for health affairs for the past two years,” Lee said. “We have relied on Beth’s thoughtful guidance and skill during this time, and I know she will excel in her next legal role working with the broader Emory community.”
