Manley v. Heather Hill, Inc.

885 N.E.2d 971, 175 Ohio App. 3d 155, 2007 Ohio 6944
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 21, 2007
DocketNo. 2007-G-2765.
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 885 N.E.2d 971 (Manley v. Heather Hill, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manley v. Heather Hill, Inc., 885 N.E.2d 971, 175 Ohio App. 3d 155, 2007 Ohio 6944 (Ohio Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Mary Jane Trapp, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Heather Hill, Inc., d.b.a. Heather Hill Hospital (“Heather Hill”), appeals the judgment entered by the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas that ordered, for the purposes of an in camera inspection inter alia, the production of incident reports relating to the injuries sustained by Patricia Manley (“Mrs. Manley”), deceased, as well as witness statements and certain injury reports of other patients. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

{¶ 2} Statement of Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 3} This appeal stems from injuries sustained by Mrs. Manley while she was a patient at Heather Hill. Mrs. Manley had been admitted to Heather Hill on several prior occasions and had suffered a number of falls there. One such fall *158 occurred on November 14, 2002, and as a result of this fall, Mrs. Manley-fractured her left femur and left hip. Following surgery, Mrs. Manley developed an infection, which eventually required an above-the-knee amputation. Ultimately, on May 23, 2004, Mrs. Manley died.

{¶ 4} On February 23, 2006, Mrs. Manley’s daughter, Cynthia Manley (“Ms. Manley”), executor of the estate of Mrs. Manley, filed a complaint against Heather Hill, alleging that Heather Hill was negligent in its care of Mrs. Manley and that that negligence proximately caused her death. 1 Heather Hill denied the allegations in the complaint.

{¶ 5} During the course of discovery, Ms. Manley sought several documents from Heather Hill, including, among other things, the production of any “incident reports” relating to Mrs. Manley, witness statements, and the identity of other patients who had sustained injuries at Heather Hill. Heather Hill refused to provide these documents, claiming that the documents were either protected by privilege or work product or were nondiscoverable under the peer-review statutes set forth in R.C. 2305.252 and 2305.253. Ms. Manley filed a motion to compel.

{¶ 6} The trial court granted the motion to compel and ordered the production of any incident reports relating to Mrs. Manley, provided that they were not prepared for peer-review purposes, and ordered an in camera inspection to make this determination. With respect to witness statements that were claimed to be subject to the peer-review privilege, the trial court ordered Heather Hill to provide the name of the witnesses and the length of the statements. In addition, the trial court ordered that upon Ms. Manley’s request, those statements would be submitted to the court for an in camera review. The trial court also ordered that reports of injuries pertaining to other patients be produced by Heather Hill. Although the patients’ names were to be redacted, Ms. Manley was to be provided with a brief description of the incidents and injuries covering the period of time of up to five years prior to Mrs. Manley’s death.

{¶ 7} On March 8, 2007, Heather Hill filed a motion for reconsideration and clarification of the trial court’s February 13, 2007 order granting Ms. Manley’s motion to compel. Attached to this motion was the affidavit of Ella Barney, Vice President of Clinical Services at Heather Hill from August 2002 until January 31, 2004. She averred that in her position, she reviewed incident reports prepared by Heather Hill staff and that those reports were “prepared for use by [the] Quality Assurance Committee at Heather Hill.”

{¶ 8} On March 15, 2007, Heather Hill filed the instant appeal. Heather Hill raises two assignments of error:

*159 {¶ 9} “[1.] The trial court abused its discretion in issuing an Order for an in camera inspection of incident reports regarding Patricia Manley because the incident reports are protected from discovery under Ohio Revised Code § 2305.253.

{¶ 10} “[2.] The trial court abused its discretion in issuing an Order to provide descriptions of injuries to other residents because such information is protected against discovery by the Ohio Peer Review Statutes.”

{¶ 11} Standard of Review

{¶ 12} We review a trial court’s discovery orders under an abuse-of-discretion standard. Simeone v. Girard City Bd. of Edn., 171 Ohio App.3d 633, 2007-Ohio-1775, 872 N.E.2d 344, at ¶ 21. Abuse of discretion “ ‘connotes more than an error of law or of judgment; it implies an unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable attitude on the part of the court.’ ” Quonset Hut, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co. (1997), 80 Ohio St.3d 46, 47, 684 N.E.2d 319, quoting Pembaur v. Leis (1982), 1 Ohio St.3d 89, 91, 1 OBR 125, 437 N.E.2d 1199.

{¶ 13} The Peer-Review Privilege

{¶ 14} R.C. 2305.252 and 2305.253 set forth Ohio’s peer-review statutes. R.C. 2305.252 provides the general policy that “[proceedings and records within the scope of a peer review committee of a health care entity shall be held in confidence and shall not be subject to discovery or introduction in evidence in any civil action against a health care entity or health care provider * * The statute also provides that individuals who attend, provide information to, or serve on peer-review committee meetings are not required to testify in a civil action as to any evidence or other matters produced or presented during the proceedings of the peer-review committee.

{¶ 15} R.C. 2305.253 provides that incident reports and risk-management reports are privileged documents that are nondiscoverable. The statute states:

{¶ 16} “(A) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of * * * the Revised Code, an incident report * * * and the contents of an incident report or risk management report are not subject to discovery in, and are not admissible in evidence in the trial of, a tort action. An individual who prepares or has knowledge of the contents of an incident report or risk management report shall not testify and shall not be required to testify in a tort action as to the contents of the report.” (Emphasis added.)

{¶ 17} R.C. 2305.25(D) defines an “incident report” as “a report of an incident involving injury or potential injury to a patient as a result of patient care provided by health care providers, including both individuals who provide health care and entities that provide health care, that is prepared by or for the use of a *160 peer review committee of a health care entity and is within the scope of the functions of that committee.” (Emphasis added.)

{¶ 18} R.C. 2305.25(E)(1) defines “peer review committee” as follows:

{¶ 19} “ ‘Peer review committee’ means a utilization review committee, quality assessment committee, performance improvement committee, tissue committee, credentialing committee, or other committee that does either of the following:

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Bluebook (online)
885 N.E.2d 971, 175 Ohio App. 3d 155, 2007 Ohio 6944, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manley-v-heather-hill-inc-ohioctapp-2007.