Mohan v. Orlando Health, Inc.

163 So. 3d 1231, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7277, 2015 WL 2259420
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 15, 2015
DocketNo. 5D13-3869
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 163 So. 3d 1231 (Mohan v. Orlando Health, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mohan v. Orlando Health, Inc., 163 So. 3d 1231, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7277, 2015 WL 2259420 (Fla. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

PALMER, J.

In this medical malpractice lawsuit, Marc Mohan and Rohini Budhu (“Plaintiffs”) appeal the final dismissal order entered by the trial court against them on all of their claims against Orlando Health, Inc. (Orlando Health). Determining that [1233]*1233Plaintiffs’ complaint states cognizable causes of action against Orlando Health, we reverse.1

Plaintiffs filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Orlando Health, South Lake Hospital, Inc., Dr. Jorge Florin, and Dr. Karl Hagen. The complaint alleged that Hagen operated on Mohan at South Lake Hospital and, during the operation, mistakenly removed his ureter rather than his appendix.

The counts against Orlando Health were for direct liability, joint liability, and vicarious liability. Orlando Health moved to dismiss all counts, and the trial court granted the motion with prejudice and later entered a final judgment thereon.

Plaintiffs argue that the trial court reversibly erred by dismissing all counts of their complaint against Orlando Health, because the complaint stated viable causes of actions for direct liability, joint liability, and vicarious liability. We agree.

Appellate courts review de novo a trial court’s order dismissing a complaint. Dingle v. Dellinger, 134 So.3d 484, 487 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). When reviewing a dismissal order, the appellate court must take all factual allegations set forth in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the pleader. Ray Coudriet Builders, Inc., v. R.K. Edwards, Inc., 157 So.3d 484 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). The court cannot look further than the complaint and its attachments when considering a dismissal motion. King v. Baptist Hosp. of Miami, Inc., 87 So.3d 39, 43 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012).

In Count I, Plaintiffs alleged the following claim of direct liability for negligent credentialing:

NEGLIGENT CREDENTIALING BY DEFENDANT OH
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30. At all times material hereto, defendant OH, by virtue of its assumption of South Lake Hospital’s governance as described herein, had the duty and responsibility to exercise reasonable care for the safety and quality of care, treatment, and services provided at South Lake Hospital to the citizens of this community including the plaintiffs MARK R. MOHAN and ROHINI BU-DHU. Further, defendant OH had the duty and responsibility to exercise reasonable care in providing oversight to the medical staffs recommendations to the hospital’s governance on the credentialing and re-credentialing of the medical staff physicians including HAGEN. This would necessarily include familiarization with the background and performance of any physician opting to apply, or re-apply for privileges at the hospital, including review of any/all disciplinary proceedings and adverse incidents reportedly involving the subject physician, and corresponding action in recommending rejection of, and/or in fact, rejecting a physician’s reapplication for privileges where such physician fails to meet minimum community standards.

Orlando Health moved to dismiss this count, arguing that the parties’ Pre-Or-ganizational Agreement and/or Management Agreement, which were attached as exhibits to the amended complaint, demonstrated “that South Lake, not Orlando Health, was solely responsible for all decisions related to the medical staff and credentialing.” As for the Pre-Organizational Agreement, Orlando Health cited to [1234]*1234paragraph 7.6 which sets forth the following “Post-Closing Covenants”:

7.6 Operational Matters.
(a) South Lake Board of Directors. South Lake shall be responsible for the overall supervision and operation of the Hospital and for directing ORHS, as manager of the Hospital, as required by the Management Agreement. South Lake’s Board of Directors shall be responsible for all policies and corporate direction required by South Lake. Actions of the South Lake Board of Directors for the normal course of business shall require a majority vote of the combined directors appointed by SLMH and ORHS....

(emphasis added). Also, Orlando Health cited to paragraphs 2, 3(b), and 8(b) of the parties’ Management Agreement, which read:

2. Control By South Lake. Throughout the Term of this Agreement, South Lake’s Board of Directors shall exercise all authority and control over the business, policies, operation, and assets of the Hospital, and ORHS shall perform its duties in accordance with the policies, bylaws, and directives of South Lake. By entering into this Agreement with ORBS, South Lake does not delegate to ORHS any of the powers, duties and responsibilities vest-' ed in South Lake’s Board of Directors' by law or by South Lake’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. South Lake shall communicate all policies and directives to ORHS. All medical and professional matters shall be the responsibility of South Lake and medical staff of the Hospital.
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[3](b) Employees. South Lake, in consultation with ORHS, shall determine the number, qualifications, and duties of personnel employed at the Hospital. South Lake, in consultation with ORHS, shall. have authority to hire and discharge all employees of the Hospital, and such authority may be delegated to appropriate employees.
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[8](b) Cooperation with Medical Staff. ORHS shall cooperate and maintain liaisons with the medical staff of the hospital and shall advise and assist the medical staff concerning procedural matters and concerning standards and guidelines on accreditation promulgated by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. However, medical, ethical, and professional matters, including control of and questions relating to the composition, qualifications, and responsibilities of the medical staff, shall be the responsibility of South Lake and the medical staff of the Hospital.

(emphasis added).

Plaintiffs argue that the provisions of the Pre-Organizational and Management Agreements do not conclusively establish that South Lake was solely responsible for the credentialing, but instead, the documents demonstrate that Orlando Health exercised “a great deal of control over the hospital’s operations, including oversight of the medical staff.” See generally Magnum Capital, LLC v. Carter & Associates, LLC, 905 So.2d 220, 221 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005) (explaining that only when documents attached to a complaint conclusively negate a claim can the pleadings be dismissed).

In the amended complaint, Plaintiffs averred, inter alia, that “defendant OH undertook to manage and operate South Lake Hospital in all material ways, including but not limited to risk management, quality assurance, credentialing oversight, and human resource department func[1235]*1235tions.” They cited to the Management Agreement which states that “ORHS shall be responsible for all day-to-day management of the Hospital, including ... personnel (including selection, testing, training and education of personnel).” In that agreement, Orlando Health’s duties vis-a-vis' South Lake Hospital were stated as follows:

3. Duties of ORHS.

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Bluebook (online)
163 So. 3d 1231, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7277, 2015 WL 2259420, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mohan-v-orlando-health-inc-fladistctapp-2015.