Congratulations to the recipient of the 2024 AHLA Excellence in Teaching Award: Jenna Walker Misiti

Jenna is an attorney and health care compliance professional whose practice focuses on health centers in rural and underserved areas of Appalachia. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Marshall University and is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law. For seven years Jenna worked as in-house counsel for West Virginia’s largest community health system, during which time she earned her Master’s in Healthcare Administration from St. Joseph’s University and became nationally certified in healthcare compliance. In 2019 Jenna opened her own firm, Appalachian Healthcare Legal Consulting, dedicated to improving health care delivery in rural Appalachian communities through her work with safety net providers.  

Jenna is certified to practice law in both West Virginia and Kentucky and works with numerous healthcare entities, offering a wide variety of  legal services from employment law, HIPAA, and contract advisement to board trainings and strategic planning. She has been published in Compliance Today and is a frequent speaker on topics related to healthcare law, compliance, and ethics. Jenna has been a member of the American Health Lawyers Association since 2012 and is part of the Fraud and Abuse practice group and the Community for Adjunct Faculty. 

In addition to her law practice, Jenna has taught as an adjunct professor for her undergraduate alma mater, Marshall University, since 2018. She has regularly taught “Legal Issues in Healthcare Management” for Marshall University’s Graduate Program in Health Care Administration as well as a doctoral level health law course in the Nurse Anesthesia Practice and Management Program. She has a passion for teaching and mentoring her students as they begin their careers. 

Jenna has served as a Director on the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy since 2020 and volunteers as a youth mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters. She lives in Huntington, West Virginia with her husband, Michael, and children, Matthew and Marly.