Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, Inc. v. Anderson

34 So. 3d 742, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 5257, 2010 WL 1563544
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 21, 2010
Docket2D08-4201, 2D08-4226
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 34 So. 3d 742 (Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, Inc. v. Anderson) 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
Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, Inc. v. Anderson, 34 So. 3d 742, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 5257, 2010 WL 1563544 (Fla. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

WALLACE, Judge.

In. these consolidated appeals, Christine Hilderbrandt (Nurse Hilderbrandt); Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, Inc., d/b/a Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital (the Hospital); and the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA) challenge the final order in which an administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that Nurse Hilderbrandt was not a participating physician under the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan (the Plan) and that the Hospital failed to comply with the notice provisions of the Plan. We conclude that the ALJ erred in finding that Nurse Hil-derbrandt was not a participating physician under the Plan but correctly ruled that the Hospital failed to comply with the notice provisions of the Plan. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions to modify the final order consistent with this opinion.

I. THE FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Allison Anderson and Timothy Anderson are the natural parents of a male child born at the Hospital on July 29, 2004. During the child’s delivery, Mrs. Anderson was treated by Dr. Matthew Conrad and Nurse Hilderbrandt. Dr. Conrad and Nurse Hilderbrandt were employees of the Hospital at all relevant times. Dr. Conrad was a participating physician under the Plan. In addition, NICA sent Nurse Hil-derbrandt a certificate for the year 2004 for her participation under the Plan. However, as discussed below, whether Nurse Hilderbrandt was a participating physician under the Plan was a disputed issue before the ALJ.

Mrs. Anderson received her prenatal care at West Coast Medical Group, Inc., d/b/a West Coast Obstetrics & Gynecology (West Coast OB/GYN). 1 During Mrs. Anderson’s initial prenatal visit on December 12, 2003, she was given a NICA brochure titled Peace of Mind for an Unexpected Problem and an acknowledgment form that stated, in pertinent part, as follows:

I have been furnished information by [West Coast OB/GYN], prepared by [NICA], and have been advised that M. *745 Conrad MD ... and Christine Hilder-brandt CNM, are participating providers in that program, wherein certain limited compensation is available in the event certain neurological injury may occur during labor, delivery or resuscitation. For specifics on the program, I understand I can contact [NICA], P.O. Box 14567, Tallahassee, Florida 32317-4567, 1-800-398-2129. I further acknowledge that I have received a copy of the brochure by NICA.

Mrs. Anderson signed and dated the form.

On June 24, 2004, the Andersons went to the Hospital to preregister for the delivery of their son. They were interviewed by a registration clerk, who entered the Andersons’ demographic, employment, insurance, and delivery information (physician’s name and due date) into a computer. Although the ALJ expressly found that it would have been practicable to have done so, the registration clerk did not provide the Andersons with an acknowledgment form or a NICA brochure.

Mrs. Anderson did not return to the Hospital until early on the morning of July 28, 2004. Upon her arrival at the Hospital, Mrs. Anderson signed an acknowledgment form that stated, in pertinent part, as follows:

I have been furnished information by [the Hospital] prepared by [NICA], and have been advised that [the Hospital] participates in that program, wherein certain limited compensation is available in the event certain neurological injury may occur during labor, delivery, or resuscitation. I understand that for specifics on the program I can contact [NICA] as described in the brochure prepared by NICA titled Peace of Mind, for an Unexpected Problem. I further acknowledge that I have received a copy of the brochure.

Mrs. Anderson was diagnosed with false labor and discharged with a prescription for a sleeping aid and instructions to rest. Mrs. Anderson returned home and slept for the remainder of the day.

Mrs. Anderson returned to the Hospital on July 29, 2004. She signed another acknowledgment form identical to the one she had signed the previous day. The nurse on duty at the Hospital called Nurse Hilderbrandt, who gave orders to monitor Mrs. Anderson. Nurse Hilderbrandt later arrived at the Hospital and examined Mrs. Anderson. Nurse Hilderbrandt called Dr. Conrad, who authorized augmentation of labor. Approximately nine hours later, Mrs. Anderson was moved to the operating room where Dr. Conrad performed an emergency cesarean section. At delivery, the child was not breathing. The child was resuscitated but suffered a birth-related neurological injury.

In 2007, the Andersons filed a complaint in the circuit court against Nurse Hilder-brandt, the Hospital, West Coast OB/GYN, and two other defendants. The circuit court proceedings were abated for a determination by the Division of Administrative Hearings concerning whether the child’s injuries were covered by the Plan. The Andersons filed a petition -with NICA. Subsequently, Nurse Hilderbrandt, the Hospital, Dr. Conrad, and other health care providers working at West Coast OB/ GYN were granted leave to intervene. NICA determined that the neurological injury for which the parents were seeking redress was compensable under the Plan and requested a formal administrative hearing before an ALJ.

A final administrative hearing was conducted in April 2008. At that hearing, Nurse Hilderbrandt, the Hospital, Dr. Conrad, and the other health care providers working at West Coast OB/GYN sought to establish the compensability of *746 the claim, their compliance with the notice provisions of the Plan, and their entitlement to immunity under the Plan. 2 Nurse Hilderbrandt submitted a seventy-page document titled West Coast Obstetrics & Gynecology, Certified Nurse Midwife Protocol (the Guidelines). She submitted an “edit copy” that contained numerous handwritten notes because she did not have a copy of the final draft of the Guidelines. 3 The Guidelines addressed multiple situations that Nurse Hilderbrandt was called upon to handle in the course of her practice with West Coast OB/GYN. Nurse Hilderbrandt testified that she was familiar with the Guidelines and used them in the course of her practice on a daily basis.

In addition, Nurse Hilderbrandt testified that she signed protocols that were filed yearly with the Board of Nursing as required by chapter 464, Florida Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code Rule 64B9-4.010. Nurse Hilderbrandt described these protocols as “an outline” of the more detailed Guidelines that she submitted at the hearing. However, Nurse Hilder-brandt did not introduce into evidence a copy of the protocols she filed with the Board of Nursing. She explained that she did not have a copy, and she entered into evidence a letter from the Board of Nursing indicating that the protocol she filed in 2004 could not be located.

In his written final order, the ALJ found that Dr. Conrad and the other health care providers working at West Coast OB/GYN were participating physicians under the Plan and had complied with the notice requirements.

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Bluebook (online)
34 So. 3d 742, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 5257, 2010 WL 1563544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tarpon-springs-hospital-foundation-inc-v-anderson-fladistctapp-2010.