QueensCare gives $1.5 million to create faculty position at USC Law

The Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics will lead research efforts on issues affecting healthcare nationwide

QueensCare, a leading provider of healthcare to uninsured and low-income families in Los Angeles County, has given the USC Gould School of Law $1.5 million to establish the Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics.

The endowed chair is named in honor of USC Law’s former dean Scott Bice, who is currently a professor at USC Law.

The chair will significantly enhance USC Law’s leadership in producing high-quality education and research on the policy, legal and ethical issues surrounding healthcare, said Matthew Spitzer, USC Law dean. After a rigorous national search, the position is expected to be filled by a scholar with a strong record of national leadership in health care law and ethics research and teaching.

Once installed, the Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics will convene scholarly explorations of needs, resources and determinants for improving healthcare for the underserved populations QueensCare serves. Such research would also impact national healthcare and policy analysis and could strengthen advocacy efforts on behalf of underserved communities.

The chair was established with the help of J. J. Brandlin, a 1938 graduate of the USC Gould School of Law, Terry Bonecutter, president of QueensCare, and the QueensCare Board.

“Health care law, policy and ethics are things we deal with everyday,” said Bonecutter. “This endowment is a natural for us, and we’re just happy we can honor Scott Bice for all he has done for health care law.”

Brandlin, who co-founded QueensCare and is a former member of the QueensCare Board of Directors, and his daughter, QueensCare Senior Vice President Barbara Brandlin Pulley, (USC MBA ’84) were both instrumental in the formation of the new chair.

“We wanted to pay tribute to Scott Bice and USC,” Brandlin said. “Our connection with USC Law is very important. It has done impressive legal work in health care law.”

For nearly a decade, QueensCare has supported the USC Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, a multidisciplinary research center designed to study critical and complex problems in health care and research. In particular, the center focuses on scientific and clinical findings that define values and pose ethical questions in health care.

“This endowed chair is a superb tribute to Scott and the work he has done to bring QueensCare and the USC Pacific Center together to address society’s complex health care issues in a rational and sound manner,” Spitzer said. “Clearly, this chair will facilitate valuable research and activity that will have broad implications far beyond the scholarly realm.”

Bice, the Robert C. Packard Professor of Law, has spent almost his entire 45-year educational and administrative career at USC. A native of San Marino, Bice first came to USC in 1961, graduating four years later with a degree in finance in 1965. He completed his law degree at USC Law in 1968.

After clerking for Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, Bice began teaching at USC Law in 1969, served as associate dean for academic affairs from 1970 to 1974, and was named dean in 1980. He retired from his tenure as dean in 2000 and has since served on the school’s faculty.

QueensCare is a faith-based public charity that strives to provide accessible and affordable healthcare for low-income and uninsured residents of Los Angeles County. It operates several healthcare programs and through its Charitable Division provides grants to groups that work toward the same goals.

The USC Gould School of Law is one of the nation’s most respected law schools and is a national leader in research and teaching about the law’s intersections with other disciplines, including health care, business, technology and policy.