Graff v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2

39 So. 3d 685, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 598, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 403, 2010 WL 1078929
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 23, 2010
Docket09-CA-598
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 39 So. 3d 685 (Graff v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Graff v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2, 39 So. 3d 685, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 598, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 403, 2010 WL 1078929 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

MARION F. EDWARDS, Judge.

| gPlaintiffs/appellants, Fay and Wilfred Graff, filed a petition for damages against Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 d/b/a Wellness Center of East Jefferson General Hospital (“Hospital” or “Wellness Center”). Mrs. Graff alleged that she was injured by the closing of an automatic door as she exited a hospital rehabilitation facility and was knocked to the ground. In this nonjury trial, the trial court granted a motion for a directed verdict in favor of the Hospital. On appeal, Mrs. Graff argues the following: (1) the trial judge erred in sustaining the Hospital’s hearsay exception; (2) the trial judge was manifestly erroneous in failing to find that there was an unreasonably dangerous condition and in failing to find that the Hospital did not have notice of the condition.

Mr. and Mrs. Graff allege that the accident occurred on January 16, 2006. They asserted both premises liability and negligence on the part of the Hospital.

|/Testifying at trial, were the Graffs and Mrs. Graffs mother, Vera H. Cornman; two Wellness Center employees/physical therapists, Angelle Ream and Amelia Em-bley; two medical experts, Dr. William Johnson Jr. and Dr. Walter Eversmeyer; and the' owner of a door company that performs service work for the Hospital, Tim Borgardt. In addition, medical records, maintenance records on the doors, and Ms. Ream and Ms. Emblems depositions were introduced into evidence.

After undergoing a leg amputation, Ms. Cornman lived with Mr. and Mrs. Graff. Ms. Cornman testified her daughter transported her to the Wellness Center for her therapy twice a week. The purpose of the rehabilitation was to teach her to walk with a walker and to use a prosthetic device. On a few occasions, Ms. Cornman used a wheelchair. Usually, however, she arrived there using a walker. Both Mrs. Graff and Ms. Cornman testified that, on the date of the accident, Ms. Cornman was using a walker.

Ms. Cornman stated that, on the day of the accident, someone other than herself or her daughter pushed a button causing the doors to open. However, she did not see anyone walking ahead of them. Ms. [687]*687Cornman did not know how long the doors had been open before they attempted to walk out. Ms. Cornman explained that her daughter assisted her as she hopped while holding onto the walker. Ms. Corn-man’s daughter’s arms were around Ms. Cornman’s waist in order to help her mother balance. When they arrived at the door, the heavy door started to close, and neither she nor her daughter could move out of the way. When they observed the door closing, they yelled, but the door knocked them to the floor. Ms. Cornman landed on top of her daughter. She stated that the door would have required great effort to push open. Ms. Cornman stated that she was not injured from the fall but suffered only slight soreness.

|4Mrs. Graff testified similarly. She stated that she probably walked in and out of the Wellness Center six times before the accident, using the doors without incident. When referred to her deposition testimony in which she stated she had pushed the button to open the door, she replied that she might have made that statement but, at the time of her trial testimony, she did not recall pushing the button. Mrs. Graff explained that the door closed quickly with such force that she did not. have time to put out her hand. She stated that she was thrown backward and suffered injuries as a result. She stated that, approximately six months before this accident, she slipped off a ladder and fell. However, she testified that the pain from that incident had resolved. Mrs. Graff eventually had low back surgery in March 2007 and was hospitalized for a second back surgery because of complications from the first surgery. At the time of trial, she stated that she spent most of her day in bed ánd was still being treated for injuries related to the accident.

Ms. Ream testified that she is employed by the Hospital as a physical therapist. She treats patients,, who vary in age, for various muscular, skeletal, or neurological conditions. However, most of her patients are either handicapped or elderly. Ms. Ream was treating Ms. Cornman with balance and gait training as well as with the use of a walker. At trial, she did not recall whether Ms. Cornman had a prosthesis. She testified that Ms. Cornman probably did not need Ms. Ream to hold onto her all of the time as Ms. Cornman was walking with a walker. Typically, a patient who arrived in a wheelchair would also be wheeled out.

Before Hurricane Katrina struck the area in August 2005, the Hospital’s rehabilitation unit was located near but not at the Wellness Center. The accident occurred approximately four months after the rehabilitation unit moved to the | ^Wellness Center. They first saw patients at the Wellness Center after this post-Katrina move. According to Ms. Ream and Ms. Embley, the rehabilitation unit moved to the Wellness Center around September or October 2005. They testified that the Wellness Center has front and side entrances. Both Ms. Ream and Ms. Embley stated that the accident took place at the side doors adjacent to the rehabilitation unit, the door used by most patients.

The door in question could be operated automatically by pressing a push plate or manually by pushing a bar. If the door opened automatically, it remained opened for a predetermined time delay and then closed. Ms. Ream stated that the door did not have an automatic sensor. She remembered another incident when someone was going through the door as it was closing, and she caught the door. However, she did not recall if this took place before or after the accident. Ms. Ream also testified she had previously stated there had been “near misses” but did not [688]*688necessarily know if they were before or after the accident.

Ms. Embley testified that she is a physical therapist and the supervisor of outpatient rehabilitation for the Hospital. The rehabilitation unit treats people who are fully ambulatory, as well as those who are wheelchair-bound. The doors in question had a time delay upon opening, but she was unaware of the length of that “hang time,” which had been the same since 2000 when it opened as a handicap door. Because of the varying conditions of the patients, Ms. Embley requested the delay time be increased. She believed that this request was made after the accident.

No one witnessed the accident, but Ms. Embley was one of the first people to respond to the accident. Ms. Embley said that she was seated at a desk and heard something that sounded like someone fell. She recalled seeing Ms. Cornman, who was using a walker, on the ground.

lfiMs. Embley identified the “Event Information” report generated by the Hospital that was introduced into evidence. The report, made in March 2006, recites the general facts as narrated by Mrs. Graff and Ms. Cornman. After the recitation of these facts, the report stated, “Hang time was extended on the exit door.”

Later in the report, the risk manager for the hospital, Sharon Pattison, commented, in May 2006, “The wellness Center staff and maintenance have been involved in this issue. These doors will be replaced by ones that have a sensor as I understand it, and not ones that open when the button is pressed.” Added to that report were hospital work orders.

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Becker v. Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2
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Hebert v. Jefferson Parish Hospital District 1
91 So. 3d 1126 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
Graff v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2
39 So. 3d 685 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
39 So. 3d 685, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 598, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 403, 2010 WL 1078929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/graff-v-jefferson-parish-hospital-service-district-no-2-lactapp-2010.