Jessica M. Lewis, JD, BSN, RN serves as the General Counsel for the North Carolina Healthcare Association (NCHA), providing legal advice and support to the association and its affiliates.

Prior to joining NCHA, she served as an associate general counsel for UNC Health for over a decade, collaborating with compliance professionals, clinicians, ancillary support staff and executives to provide legal analyses and advice on matters involving health care operations, information privacy and security, medical staff, physician arrangements and business transactions such as joint ventures. Before that, she worked as an associate attorney at Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh where she advised and represented hospitals, physician practices, long term care facilities, and other health care providers in matters involving regulatory compliance, facility and practitioner licensure, reimbursement and certificate of need litigation. She also worked as an associate attorney at two other law firms in Raleigh. During law school, she worked as a temporary research assistant in the Legislative Analysis Division of the North Carolina General Assembly.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law where she received her Juris Doctor, Jessica also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. After graduating from nursing school, she served as a Nurse Corps Officer with the United States Army for several years, where she earned a critical care nursing specialty designation and achieved the rank of Captain.