Das v. Greene County Memorial Hospital

48 Pa. D. & C.3d 435, 1987 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 88
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Greene County
DecidedJune 12, 1987
Docketno. 8, in Equity, 1987
StatusPublished

This text of 48 Pa. D. & C.3d 435 (Das v. Greene County Memorial Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Greene County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Das v. Greene County Memorial Hospital, 48 Pa. D. & C.3d 435, 1987 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 88 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

GRIMES, P.J.,

Plaintiff, Arunava Das, M.D., has filed a complaint in equity against defendant, Greene County Memorial Hospital, and against the individual members of the Board of Trustees of Greene County Memorial Hospital.

On October 10, 1986 a female employee of the Greene County Memorial Hospital filed a signed affidavit with the administration of the hospital alleging plaintiff, a physician with privileges at the hospital, had engaged her in acts of sexual harassment. Plaintiff has admitted that he engaged in a voluntary, romantic and sexual liaison with the female employee and further admitted such activity occurred on hospital premises while the employee was on duty. Plaintiff has at all times denied any use of force. The female employee alleged that plaintiff’s attentions were unwelcome and that the incident at [436]*436issue which occurred on October 8, 1986 was forced upon her by plaintiff.

1 On October 11, 1986, plaintiff requested a voluntary leave of absence from the hospital for an indefinite duration. Plaintiff remained on'leave until January 3, 1987 at which time he withdrew his voluntary leave.

Throughout December 1986 the appropriate committee was in the process , of considering reappointment of physicians at the hospital as required under the medical staff bylaws. This reappointment process is set forth in Article V, section 3 of the bylaws, which states:
“(a) At least 60 days prior to the final scheduled governing body meeting in the medical staff year, the Credentials Committee shall review all pertinent information available on each practitioner scheduled for periodic appraisal, for the purpose of determining its recommendations for reappointments to the medical staff and for the granting of clinical privileges for the ensuing period, and shall transmit its recommendations, in writing, to the Executive Committee. Where nonreappointment or a change in clinical privileges is recommended, the reason for such recommendation shall be stated and documented.
“(b) Each recommendation concerning the reappointment of a medical staff member and the clinical.privileges to be granted upon reappointment shall be based upon such member’s professional competence and clinical judgment in the treatment of patients, his ethics and conduct, his attendance at medical staff meetings and participation in staff affairs, his compliance with the hospital bylaws and the medical staff bylaws, rules and regulations, his cooperation with hospital personnel, his use of the hospital’s facilities for his patients, his relations with [437]*437the other practitioners arid his general attitude toward patients, the hospital and the public.
“(c) At least 30 days prior to the final scheduled governing body meeting in the medical staff year, the Executive Committee shall make written recommendations to the governing body, through the chief executive officer, concerning the reappointment, nonreappointment and/or clinical privileges of each practitioner then scheduled for periodic appraisals. Where nonreappointment or a change in clinical privileges is recommended, the reasons for such recommendation shall be stated and documented.
“(d) Thereafter, the procedure provided in section 2 of the Article V relating to recommendations on applications for initial appointment shall be followed. ”

In compliance with the medical staff bylaws, questions were raised concerning the plaintiff s ethics and conduct as a result of the allegations made by the female employee against plaintiff. As a result, a special ad hoc hearing committee of the Board of Trustees was established in accordance with fur-, ther procedures set forth in the medical staff bylaws, to conduct a hearing concerning the validity of these allegations. At that hearing, both plaintiff and the hospital were represented by counsel and both had the opportunity to introduce any and all relevant testimony with respect to the issue of plaintiffs reappointment in view of the allegations made against plaintiff. The report of the ad hoc hearing committee, dated March 23, 1987 recommended that plaintiff not be reappointed. The recommendation of the ad hoc hearing committee was later affirmed and readopted by the Board of Trustees and plaintiffs hospital privileges were withdrawn April 28, 1987.

[438]*438Subsequently, plaintiff filed this action seeking a preliminary injunction against the hospital and its Board of Trustees alleging that he . was denied “fundamental due process” under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and that the Board of Trustees did not comply with the medical staff bylaws in its process for denial of reappointment of plaintiff. Further, the plaintiff alleges that a breach of contract occurred between the plaintiff and the hospital. A full and complete hearing was held on June 5 and 8, 1987 and the court now considers the merit of the allegations raised by plaintiff in view of the equitable relief sought.

DISCUSSION

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has stated that a court may grant a preliminary injunction only in cases where three elements have been established, to wit: “[w]here there is urgent necessity to avoid injury which cannot be compensated for by damages, . . . where rights of the plaintiff are clear, and ... (where) greater injury will be done by refusing it than in granting it.” Independent State Store Union v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, 495 Pa. 145, 150, 432 A.2d 1375, 1381 (1981). The federal courts have expanded these elements to require a court to take into account, when relevant, “(1) the possibility of harm to other interested parties from the grant or denial of the injunction, and (2) the public interest. Essentially, the court must balance the existing interests.” American College of Obstetricians and. Gynecologists, Pennsylvania Section et al. v. Richard Thornburgh et al., 613 F.S. 656, 664 (D.C. Pa. 1985). These criteria shall be examined in view of the facts of the present case to deter[439]*439mine whether or not a preliminary induction should be issued.

Under the elements required by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, this court will first focus on whether the rights of the plaintiff are clear. Plaintiff alleges in this action, among other things, that he has been denied fundamental due process as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He argues that such a denial resulted from procedural deficiencies occurring throughout the process used by the defendants to arrive at a decision not to reappoint him to the hospital staff. It is well established that “the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States applies only to ‘state action’ and not to private conduct.” Adler v. Montefiore Hospital Association of Western Pennsylvania, 455 Pa. 60, 311 A.2d 634 (1974). In order for plaintiff to be protected by the due process clause of the constitution, there must be significant “state action” involved before the Fourteenth Amendment would force application of due process requirements to the reappointment procedures conducted by the hospital.

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Related

Independent State Store Union v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board
432 A.2d 1375 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Rosenberg v. Holy Redeemer Hospital
506 A.2d 408 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Ozlu v. Lock Haven Hospital
369 F. Supp. 285 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 1974)
Miller v. Indiana Hospital
419 A.2d 1191 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Adler v. Montefiore Hospital Ass'n
311 A.2d 634 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)
Uniontown Area School District v. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
313 A.2d 156 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
48 Pa. D. & C.3d 435, 1987 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/das-v-greene-county-memorial-hospital-pactcomplgreene-1987.