Dale S. Webber

As Chair of Buchanan’s Healthcare Section, Dale S. Webber focuses his practice on helping clients achieve their strategic goals. He has served as lead transaction counsel in numerous mergers, acquisitions, and other significant transactions, including those that resulted in the formation of some of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems.  One such transaction involved the formation of a major provider-insurer health system and was described by the Wall Street Journal as an industry “game changer.” 

Among the healthcare organizations that Dale regularly represents are national health systems, hospitals, ambulatory care providers, nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, hospices, and home health providers. For these clients, he has negotiated, structured and completed acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, joint operating agreements and financings involving significant health systems, health facilities and other business interests. Dale is skilled in handling the legal implications of these transactions, including business structures and liability protection, regulatory approvals, antitrust clearance, and bond and other debt financings.

Dale’s practice focuses on nonprofit organizations. He has represented a private, nonprofit university in a change of control transaction resulting in its consolidation into a larger university. In addition to his healthcare and higher education experience, Dale has represented other nonprofit organizations, such as social service agencies, charitable foundations, and religious congregations, in matters ranging from mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions, to the corporate restructuring of religiously-affiliated schools. 

Dale has been selected for inclusion on The Best Lawyers in America list in the category of Healthcare Law and was named “Lawyer of the Year” in the 2020 and 2024 editions. He has received Martindale Hubbell's highest rating (AV) for legal ability and ethics and has been recognized by Florida Super Lawyers and Tampa Bay Magazine. Dale has also been recognized twice in a BTI Consulting national client survey for providing superior client service in corporate transactions.

Over the course of his career, he has served as lead counsel in transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $40 billion. Among the transactions in which Dale has served as lead counsel are the following:

• Represented University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in its historic merger with Saint Joseph's University, serving as lead transaction counsel negotiating merger agreements and obtaining all required approvals and consents from the U.S. Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Federal Trade Commission, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas (Orphans' Court Division), Middle States Commission on Higher Education and other specialty accreditation agencies, bond trustees, and other regulatory agencies.
• Counsel in connection with mergers and consolidations of multiple large national health systems.
• Counsel for purchasers and sellers in numerous acquisitions and divestiture transactions involving health systems, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.
• Transaction counsel in connection with the formation of a joint operating company to govern multiple hospitals.
• Counsel in the formation of an innovative health system between a multi-hospital system and Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer.
• Counsel to a large, multi-specialty physician group in its sale to a national health system and merger with employed physician group.
• Counsel to regional provider of hospice and home health services in multiple acquisitions and restructurings.
• Counsel for structuring hospital-physician joint ventures of ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, urgent care centers, and other providers.
• Counsel in connection with the formation of accountable care organizations and clinically-integrated networks and related participation in innovative CMS population health initiatives.
• Counsel to a health system in a virtual health joint venture with a regional health insurer.