Mara is a trusted legal advisor with deep experience in health care law, serving hospitals, health care facilities, and medical professionals across the industry. With more than a decade of experience in private practice and in-house counsel roles, she brings a practical, solutions-oriented approach to the complex and evolving health care regulatory landscape.
Mara works with clients ranging from large academic medical centers and research institutions to community hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and multi-specialty physician groups. She provides strategic guidance on licensing and accreditation, health care transactions, nonprofit governance, and hospital operations. Her experience includes advising compliance departments, overseeing reimbursement audits and repayments, and navigating regulatory frameworks such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Stark Law. She also has significant experience with telehealth, scope of practice, academic research, medical staff governance, involuntary admissions, and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). In addition, Mara assists skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities with transactions and related licensing matters.
Before joining Shumaker, Mara spent nearly a decade as in-house counsel at ProMedica Health System, where she led the legal enterprise for its hospital and provider division. Most recently, she served as in-house counsel for the University of Michigan Health System, advising on matters for both the Ann Arbor campus and the system’s expansion to Sparrow Health System in Lansing.
Mara is known for translating complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance that leaders and providers can rely on in fast-paced, high-stakes environments. Clients appreciate her responsiveness, practical insight, and ability to tailor advice to executives, practice administrators, and frontline providers alike.
Beyond health care, Mara is a dedicated advocate for businesses in the horticulture and green industries sector, providing corporate and transactional counsel to nurseries, greenhouses, garden centers, landscape companies, suppliers, vendors, and specialty plant retailers. She advises on entity formation, commercial agreements, regulatory compliance, and risk management, bringing the same practical, business-minded approach she is known for in the health care space. Mara’s passion for the green industries is more than professional — she boasts a personal collection of nearly 200 rare and common houseplants. This hobby first sparked her interest in representing businesses across the horticulture supply chain.
A lifelong Michigander, Mara lives in Monroe with her husband and two young children. When she is not watering her plants, she enjoys exploring new travel destinations with her family, sharing her love of film with her children, cooking new recipes, and cheering on her son and daughter at soccer games.
Education
J.D., summa cum laude, The University of Toledo Law Review%2C Managing Editor, The University of Toledo College of Law, 2012
B.A., Business & Managerial Economics, Albion College, 2009
Professional and Community Affiliations
- YWCA, former Board member
- Humane Ohio, former Board member
- Valentine Theatre, former ProMedica representative
Representative Matters
- Advised large health system client on regulatory framework and clinical operations for acute care at home product during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Advised large academic health system on compliance investigations and potential overpayments related to newly acquired community health system's legacy hospital outpatient department operations.
- Lead large health system acquisition of ophthalmology and retina surgeon practice acquisition.
- Overhauled community health system electronic health record system donation to local physician groups in compliance with the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute.
- Restructured cardiology practice of hospital-owned multi-specialty physician group to comply with hospital outpatient department requirements.