Maas v. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside

192 A.3d 1139
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 29, 2018·No. 185 WDA 2017·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

OPINION BY BOWES, J.:

UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside d/b/a Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic ("WPIC"), Michelle Barwell, M.D., and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic Adult Community Treatment Team ("CTT") (collectively the "UPMC Defendants"), appeal from the October 11, 2016 order denying their motion for summary judgment. 1 After thorough review, we affirm.

The facts giving rise to this cause of action are as follows. On May 29, 2008, Terrence Andrews attacked and killed Lisa Maas, a neighbor who lived four doors away in his Oakland apartment building. Mr. Andrews had a long history of mental illness. He had been an inpatient at Mayview State Hospital, where he was diagnosed with, inter alia, paranoid personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. He had attempted suicide on several occasions and suffered opioid and cocaine dependence. In 2006, he was transitioned to the CTT, and placed in a personal care home. It was at that location that defendant Michelle Barwell, M.D., a psychiatrist who worked with the CTT, first saw him. 2

In late 2007, Defendant Barwell and the CTT facilitated Mr. Andrews's move from assisted living to independent living in a private apartment building, Hampshire Hall. 3 He signed a one-year lease for *1142 Apartment 414, with a term commencing January 2008, and moved into the apartment. His rent was directly paid to his landlord from his social security disability income by a payee service. Mr. Andrews remained under the care of Defendant Barwell, the CTT, and other caregivers at WPIC on an outpatient basis.

Mr. Andrews did not function well in the independent environment. Within one week of moving in, he presented to the Diagnostic Evaluation Center, described as the emergency room ("ER") for WPIC, and reported that he had been experiencing homicidal ideations for two weeks towards his neighbor. He complained that the neighbor knocked on his door in the middle of the night to ask him stupid questions. The record of that visit noted that Mr. Andrews's move to independent living was a stressor. They admitted Mr. Andrews to WPIC for a two-week stay, and, even upon discharge on January 31, 2008, he continued to complain about his housing and neighbors. 4 Mr. Andrews repeatedly voiced his desire to be placed in a personal care home where he would have more support from caregivers on site.

Mr. Andrews presented again to WPIC's ER on March 5, 2008, reporting homicidal feelings toward others. He stated that he kept himself locked up so that he would not kill other people. Although it was determined at that time that he should be placed in a personal care home, he was admitted to WPIC for three weeks, and he subsequently returned to his apartment on April 1, 2008. Four days later, he presented to WPIC following an attempted suicide, with suicidal and homicidal ideations, and he was admitted to UPMC Braddock. After two weeks of in-patient treatment, he was discharged to his home.

In May, Mr. Andrews made a number of visits to the ER and telephone contacts with CTT. On May 9, 2008, Mr. Andrews went to the ER and reported homicidal ideation towards his neighbor and disclosed his plan to stab the neighbor with scissors. A caseworker was dispatched to the ER at WPIC to persuade him to return home, and he was not admitted. One day later, he called CTT and reported that he was still having homicidal ideations. Within twenty-four hours, he presented to the emergency room at Mercy Behavioral Health, and reported an altercation that had left him angry and depressed. There was an argument, which turned physical, and Mr. Andrews reported that a man he described as his next-door neighbor's boyfriend/friend of a woman who lives nearby hit him on his left arm with a baseball bat. He told Mercy Behavioral Health personnel that he wanted to kill himself and kill this person. It is expressly noted in the psychiatric evaluation from that visit that Mr. Andrews did not identify the person by name or location. He was admitted to that facility for three days, where he was kept on a routine watch as he had contracted for safety.

Mr. Andrews was evaluated by Defendant Barwell on May 15, 2008, and she described his condition as stable. Nonetheless, Mr. Andrews went to the ER at WPIC on May 18, 2008, describing a plan "to kill the next-door neighbor and everyone" and "eat his pills." Plaintiff's Brief in Opposition to Summary Judgment, 10/4/16, Exhibit 30 at 1. Mr. Andrews told them that his neighbor hit him with a baseball bat because he let the neighbor's battered girlfriend stay at his place. Mr. Andrews reported that he was carrying scissors around with him, but a search of his belongings did not reveal scissors. They *1143 made the decision not to admit him because, although he had frequently reported suicidal and homicidal ideations, he previously had not followed through with any such threats. Although Mr. Andrews was upset and insisted that he needed to be admitted, he was sent home.

On May 19, 2008, Mr. Andrews went to the CTT offices. Shortly thereafter, WPIC caregivers gave Mr. Andrews a behavior plan that would reward him with a weekly bus pass and a food voucher if he did not present to any emergency room for two weeks. He called CTT the next day and asked to go to a personal care home. On May 22, he called again and told them he needed to be admitted. A case management note dated May 23, 2008, indicated that William Brown of the CTT made phone calls to determine bed availability at personal care homes, and that he discussed the options with Mr. Andrews. On May 24, Mr. Andrews called the CTT complaining that he lacked food and toilet paper. Mr. Andrews hung up after he was reminded that he had to go two weeks without ER visits in order to get the voucher.

Despite the fact that he would lose the incentives, Mr. Andrews went to the ER at WPIC on May 25, 2008, complaining that he was hearing voices and hallucinating. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist. He reported that he had not been taking his medications for three weeks and that he had both suicidal and homicidal ideations. The voices were bothering him and causing him to rave and scream in his apartment. He asked to be admitted. Again, a case manager intervened, and dissuaded him from being admitted. The plan was to deliver his outpatient medications to him the next morning, and to move him to a personal care home in thirty-six hours. After receiving medication for agitation, Mr. Andrews was sent home in a cab.

Four days later, Pittsburgh Police responded to a call of a possible domestic dispute at Hampshire Hall. The officers observed Mr. Andrews, covered in blood, leaving the fourth floor apartment of eighteen-year-old Lisa Maas, a Pennsylvania Culinary Institute student. Ms. Maas was dead due to multiple stab wounds from scissors. Mr. Andrews told police that he did it, and asked to be taken to jail. He also informed the officers that he told Defendant Barwell to put him in WPIC because he was going to kill someone, and that the medication was not working.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Maas v. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, 192 A.3d 1139 (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

192 A.3d 1139 (Maas v. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

2019 E. Boston v. Viking Mill Assoc.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2026
Johnson, L. v. Toll Brothers
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
McCurdy, R. v. C&K Industrial Services
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Maas, L. v. UPMC, Aplts.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Bowen, N. v. Middletown, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019