Dharma Patel
General Counsel, UNITE HERE HEALTH
Dharma Patel has dedicated 20 years of leadership to UNITE HERE HEALTH, a multiemployer Taft-Hartley Health Fund that provides high-quality, affordable healthcare to service workers in the hospitality industry. She oversees the legal department, is a member of the executive leadership team, and advises the CEO and Board of Trustees.
During the pandemic, she has been an integral advisor on many significant issues, including implementation of free and subsidized health benefits for hospitality employees who were among the hardest impacted by the pandemic. She has also counseled the Fund through staff furloughs and layoffs, evaluated potential loan options and available federal tax credits, and navigated a myriad of new regulations and requirements, including the CARES Act, Families First Coronavirus Rescue Act, DOL/IRS outbreak period extensions, and the COBRA subsidy provided in the American Rescue Plan Act.
She has built a robust in-house legal team capable of handling a wide array of issues. Prior to her tenure at UNITE HERE HEALTH, she worked for the Department of Labor Employee Benefits & Security Administration as an investigator.
