Reed v. ANM HEALTH CARE

225 P.3d 1012
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 12, 2009
Docket60747-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 225 P.3d 1012 (Reed v. ANM HEALTH CARE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. ANM HEALTH CARE, 225 P.3d 1012 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

225 P.3d 1012 (2008)
148 Wash.App. 264

Sharon R. REED, Respondent,
v.
ANM HEALTH CARE and Karen E. Hulley, individually and as defendants' agent, Petitioners.

No. 60747-2-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

December 8, 2008.
Publication Ordered January 12, 2009.

Kerry Berry Wick, Seattle, WA, for appellant ANM Health Care.

Pamela Marie Andrews, Seattle, WA, for appellant Karen Hulley.

Andrew George Cooley, Seattle, WA, for appellant University of Washington Medical Center.

Judith Lonnquist, Mitchell Riese, Wendy Leigh Lilliedoll, Seattle, WA, for respondent Sharon R. Reed.

LAU, J.

¶ 1 Sharon Reed was barred from her life partner's intensive care unit hospital room for extended periods of time on the night before her partner's death. Karen Hulley, the critical care nurse who limited Reed's visitation, asserts that her actions were medically motivated, but Reed challenges this assertion. Reed brought an action against Hulley for the common law torts of outrage and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Hulley argues that Reed's alleged injuries occurred as a result of health care, so her remedies are limited by RCW 7.70.010, and that she has no viable claim under chapter 7.70 RCW. But we conclude that Reed presented a genuine factual dispute regarding whether her injuries resulted from health care. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of summary judgment.

FACTS

¶ 2 Sharon Reed and Jo Ann Ritchie were life partners for 17 years before Ritchie's death. Ritchie was ill for several years before she died and had been hospitalized several times. Ritchie executed a durable power of attorney giving Reed authority to make medical care decisions on Ritchie's behalf.[1] The document also authorized Reed "[t]o provide for companionship for me and to be accorded the status of a family member for purposes of visitation" and "to provide for such companionship for me as will meet my needs and preferences at a time when I am disabled or otherwise unable to arrange for such companionship." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 277.

¶ 3 Reed brought her partner to the University of Washington Medical Center on August 30, 2005, because Ritchie was having *1013 trouble breathing. From August 30 to September 3, Reed and Ritchie's family had unrestricted access to Ritchie. Around 4 p.m. on September 3, Ritchie was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit ("ICU"). According to Reed, Ritchie told her, "I'm scared. Don't leave me." CP 268. Between the time when Ritchie was admitted to the ICU and approximately 11 p.m., Reed and others were permitted to be at Ritchie's bedside, two at a time. At about 11 p.m., Dr. Dong Chang, the treating pulmonologist, discussed Ritchie's condition with Reed and Ritchie's sister, Betty Hanson. Dr. Chang advised them that the situation was grave, but that he was hopeful Ritchie would live through the night. According to Reed, Dr. Chang told her that she could continue to stay with Ritchie in her room, which was consistent with her prior experiences during Ritchie's illness.

¶ 4 Karen Hulley, the critical care nurse assigned to Ritchie, began her shift at 7 p.m. on September 3. Shortly after 11 p.m., Hulley told Reed she would have to leave Ritchie's room. According to Hulley, she asked Reed to call her from the waiting area before coming back to Ritchie's room. Hulley claims that Reed repeatedly re-entered the room without calling first and that Reed interfered with Ritchie's rest by talking to her and touching her. Hulley contends that Reed was agitating Ritchie and compromising her respiratory status and that her oxygen status was very unstable. Hulley says she applied an oxygen mask to Ritchie and gave her frozen plasma with the goal of stabilizing her for a possible life-prolonging surgery. Hulley alleges that she gave Reed updates on Ritchie's status over the phone and in person and there were times when she had to physically work around Reed to tend to Ritchie.

¶ 5 Reed disputes Hulley's version of events. She contends that Hulley never updated her or told her to call before entering Ritchie's room. Reed contends that Hulley never expressed concern that she was agitating Ritchie. According to Reed, she consistently encouraged her partner to not try to speak and Ritchie was comforted by her presence, not agitated. Reed also claims that she saw Hulley "roughly shoving a bed pan" under Ritchie and when she offered to help, Hulley yelled at her to get out. CP at 269. Reed asserts that when she told Hulley about her power of attorney, Hulley responded that it did not matter. Reed was distraught at the thought that Ritchie might die alone. Hulley's shift ended at 7 a.m. Reed was permitted to rejoin Ritchie, but at that point Ritchie was "in an extremely drugged state." Life-prolonging measures were no longer possible, and Ritchie died a few hours later.

¶ 6 Reed filed suit against Hulley, Hulley's nurse placement agency (ANM Health Care) and the University of Washington Medical Center.[2] She asserted claims for outrage and negligent infliction of emotional distress based on Hulley's decision to exclude her from Ritchie's room. Hulley moved for summary judgment and submitted a declaration from a registered nurse opining that Hulley's exclusion of Reed was medically proper and fell within the standard of care for an ICU nurse. Hulley argued that Reed's alleged injuries occurred as a result of health care, so her remedies were limited by RCW 7.70.010 and that she had no viable claim under chapter 7.70 RCW. The trial court denied the motion, and this court granted discretionary review.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 Hulley contends that the trial court erred in denying her summary judgment motion. She argues that Reed's injuries arose from the provision of health care, so her remedies are limited to those provided in chapter 7.70 RCW. Reed argues that Hulley's actions were not motivated by her health care judgment. Consequently, Reed contends that her injuries did not occur as a result of health care and RCW 7.70.010 does not preclude her common law tort claims.

¶ 8 An appellate court reviewing a trial court's denial of summary judgment makes the same inquiry as the trial court. Hertog *1014 v. City of Seattle, 138 Wash.2d, 265, 275, 979 P.2d 400 (1999). Summary judgment is appropriate if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Hertog, 138 Wash.2d at 275, 979 P.2d 400. Facts and reasonable inferences are considered in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and questions of law are reviewed de novo. Berger v. Sonneland, 144 Wash.2d 91, 102-03, 26 P.3d 257 (2001).

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225 P.3d 1012, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-anm-health-care-washctapp-2009.