Botsford Continuing Care Corp. v. Intelistaf Healthcare, Inc.

807 N.W.2d 354, 292 Mich. App. 51
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 22, 2011
DocketDocket No. 294780
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 807 N.W.2d 354 (Botsford Continuing Care Corp. v. Intelistaf Healthcare, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Botsford Continuing Care Corp. v. Intelistaf Healthcare, Inc., 807 N.W.2d 354, 292 Mich. App. 51 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

JANSEN, J.

In this common-law indemnification action,1 defendant, Intelistaf Healthcare, Inc., formerly doing business as StarMed Staffing Group (StarMed), appeals the circuit court’s order denying its motion for summary disposition and granting partial summary disposition in favor of plaintiff, Botsford Continuing Care Corporation (Botsford). The circuit court ruled that Botsford was entitled to full common-law indemnification from StarMed as a matter of law. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the circuit court’s denial [53]*53of StarMed’s motion for summary disposition, but reverse the circuit court’s grant of partial summary disposition in favor of Botsford and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

i

A

In August 2000, Virginia Harris, age 74, had routine bladder suspension surgery at Henry Ford Hospital. Unknown to Harris at the time, the surgeon nicked her bowel during the procedure, and Harris’s bowel later became infected. This necessitated further bowel surgery, including a temporary colostomy. Thereafter, Harris’s doctors discovered that although the surgeons had successfully removed the infected tissue from her bowel, the infection had spread to her back. Harris consequently returned for yet another surgery, this time to remove infected bone and tissue from her back, all of which had resulted from the initial bladder suspension procedure. On February 16, 2001, following her back surgery, Harris was admitted to a nursing home owned by Botsford. The plan was for Harris to recuperate at the facility while awaiting a colostomy-reversal surgery scheduled for March 12, 2001.

On the morning of March 11, 2001, while a patient at the Botsford facility, Harris was placed on a bowel preparation regimen to prepare her for the upcoming colostomy-reversal surgery. As a result of the bowel preparation regimen, Harris’s colostomy bag needed to be emptied several times during the day on March 11, 2001.

At some point on March 11,2001, Harris told her son, Robert Harris, that she needed to empty her colostomy bag. Robert Harris went to the nursing station just [54]*54outside his mother’s room and asked for assistance taking his mother to the bathroom. According to Robert Harris, the nurses at the nursing station told him to take his mother to the bathroom by himself. Robert Harris apparently felt uncomfortable taking his mother to the bathroom and emptying her bag himself, but did so anyway. After helping to empty his mother’s colostomy bag, Robert Harris returned his mother to her bed. Thereafter, he apparently left the Botsford facility for the day.

Harris’s longtime companion, Robert Hayes, age 81, arrived at the Botsford facility and stayed with Harris during the afternoon of March 11, 2001. At some point that afternoon, Harris again needed to empty her colostomy bag. She pressed her call button but no one came to her room to help. Thus, Hayes went to the nursing station outside Harris’s room and asked for assistance. According to Hayes, the two nurses working at the station (later discovered to be Joan Lay and Kathleen Holmes) instructed him that he should help Harris to the bathroom and assist her with emptying the bag himself, just as they had allegedly instructed Harris’s son to do earlier in the day. In contrast, nurses Lay and Holmes testified that they informed Hayes to press the call button again and that a nurse’s aide would respond to the call. At any rate, it is undisputed that Hayes returned to the room and helped Harris out of bed by himself. While Hayes was helping Harris to the bathroom, Harris fell and fractured her left hip. As a result of the fall, Harris ultimately had to undergo partial left hip replacement surgery.

There were both licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and nurse’s aides working at the Botsford facility during February and March 2001. The LPNs were not employed by Botsford, but were contract nurses em[55]*55ployed by StarMed, a staffing agency. By contrast, the nurse’s aides were direct employees of Botsford. It is beyond dispute that the nurses working at the nursing station outside Harris’s room on March 11, 2001, were LPNs Joan Lay and Kathleen Holmes.

In August 2003, Harris sued Botsford. Her complaint alleged that the nursing home personnel had been negligent on March 11, 2001, by telling Hayes that he should help Harris to the bathroom and by failing to actively respond when Hayes requested assistance. The complaint also alleged that the personnel had been negligent by failing to better monitor and observe Harris’s colostomy bag during the day of March 11, 2001, by failing to help Harris to the bathroom to empty her bag more often during the day of March 11,2001, by failing to directly supervise the emptying of Harris’s colostomy bag, by delegating to Hayes the duties of helping Harris to the bathroom and emptying the colostomy bag, and by failing to complete an accurate and adequate “Fall Risk Assessment” at the time Harris was first admitted to the Botsford facility in February 2001.

Although the complaint did not distinguish between the LPNs and nurse’s aides working at the Botsford facility, it later became clear during discovery that although certain of Harris’s allegations of negligence pertained to the nurse’s aides, other allegations in the complaint pertained to the LPNs.2 Importantly, it was learned that the duties of monitoring and observing Harris’s colostomy bag and helping Harris to the bathroom to empty the bag were duties of the Botsfordemployed nurse’s aides. It was also learned that LPNs Lay and Holmes were StarMed employees. Finally, it [56]*56was discovered that the preparation of Harris’s Fall Risk Assessment had been a responsibility of a direct employee of Botsford.

Prior to trial, Botsford filed a third-party complaint against StarMed, contending that StarMed’s employees, Lay and Holmes, were actually liable for most or all of the negligence alleged by Harris. However, Botsford’s third-party complaint was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by stipulation of the parties. The parties agreed that Botsford would he permitted to re-file its claims against StarMed in a separate action should Harris prevail on the merits of her lawsuit against Botsford.

Botsford then moved for partial summary disposition, seeking the dismissal of all claims except those that directly implicated LPNs Lay and Holmes. Botsford argued that the only claims actually set forth in the notice of intent had related to the actions of Lay and Holmes on March 11, 2001, at which time the two nurses allegedly told Hayes to help Harris to the bathroom by himself. Harris opposed the motion, contending that her notice of intent and other pleadings had specifically set forth other claims as well, and that her allegations of negligence were not limited to the actions of Lay and Holmes on March 11, 2001. In her response to Botsford’s motion, Harris argued that Botsford was “attempting to eliminate any claims of negligence involving its own employees (including primarily nurse’s aides) so that it can perfect its third-party case against StarMed.” The circuit court agreed with Harris and denied Botsford’s motion, ruling that the motion “lack[ed] legal and factual merit.” Consequently, the matter proceeded to trial not only with respect to the claims against StarMed employees Lay and Holmes but also with respect to certain claims against Botsford’s own nurse’s aides.

[57]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
807 N.W.2d 354, 292 Mich. App. 51, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/botsford-continuing-care-corp-v-intelistaf-healthcare-inc-michctapp-2011.