Webster v. CHP Correctional Health Partners

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided July 28, 2026·No. 24-1134·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS July 28, 2026

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court

RONALD L. WEBSTER,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 24-1134 (D.C. No. 1:19-CV-02511-RM-KAS)

CHP CORRECTIONAL HEALTH (D. Colo.) PARTNERS,

Defendant - Appellee.

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

Before McHUGH, EID, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges.

While he was incarcerated within the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC), Ronald Webster injured his hip. He was eventually treated by both CDOC medical staff and outside providers. Mr. Webster filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendant CHP Correctional Health Partners (CHP)—a third-party medical claims administrator—alleging CHP’s purposeful delay in authorizing his medical

* This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the

doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with FED. R. APP. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.

care violated the Eighth Amendment. 1 After the district court appointed counsel for Mr. Webster, the parties engaged in discovery, and CHP moved for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The district court granted the motion in a comprehensive written order, and Mr. Webster now appeals. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.

I2

A

At the time of the events in this case, Mr. Webster was a 60-year-old inmate incarcerated at CDOC’s Fremont Correctional Facility (FCF) in Cañon City, Colorado. In December 2017, Mr. Webster slipped and fell on

1 Mr. Webster’s complaint also named as defendants two treatment

providers at CDOC—Mr. Daniel Reed and Mr. Jared Geesaman. Mr. Reed and Mr. Geesaman were dismissed and are no longer parties to this case. CHP is the only remaining defendant. We also note, as did the district court, Mr. Geesaman is “spelled ‘Geeseman’ in various filings[.]” RI.104. We adopt the spelling that appears in the medical records and his counsel’s filings.

2 We derive the facts from the district court order, which recited the

facts from the Parties’ Statements of Undisputed Material Facts. We recite the facts in the light most favorable to Mr. Webster as the non-movant. See Markley v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 59 F.4th 1072, 1080 (10th Cir. 2023) (observing in a summary judgment motion that “we examine the record and all reasonable inferences that might be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party” (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted)).

an icy grate at FCF. 3 Over the next few weeks, he developed bruising and “sharp, burning, and constant” pain in his left hip. RII.177 ¶ 32. He requested a medical visit on January 1, 2018. About a week and a half later, on January 12, 2018, he had his first appointment to address the injury with providers at FCF. A nurse examined him and a physician’s assistant— Daniel Reed—ordered x-rays. The x-ray confirmed Mr. Webster had no broken bones but revealed “moderate to severe degenerative arthritis of the left hip.” RII.178.

Mr. Webster’s pain worsened. A month later, in February 2018, he again sought medical help at FCF. At that visit, a nurse practitioner— Mr. Jared Geesaman—advised Mr. Webster to “lose weight, stretch, and exercise.” RII.178 ¶ 34. Over the next few months, Mr. Webster’s pain persisted, and he repeatedly returned to the medical clinic at FCF complaining about “worsening pain.” RII.178.

CDOC medical staff ultimately determined Mr. Webster should be seen by a specialist. Before that could happen, however, CDOC had to obtain approval from CHP, a third-party administrator that contracts with CDOC to provide prior authorization for inmate care outside CDOC’s

3Mr. Webster also had a preexisting knee injury. In 2012, while incarcerated in a different CDOC facility, he sprained his right knee after jumping from a top bunk onto the floor.

internal medical system. CHP is “not a healthcare provider” and “does not provide any healthcare services.” RII.166 ¶ 2. CHP’s employees include some medical professionals, but they do not “diagnose[]” or “treat” patients, nor do they schedule medical appointments on the patient’s behalf. RII.168 ¶ 4.

On July 25, 2018, after CHP authorized the consultation, Mr. Webster met with an orthopedic physician, Dr. Jacob Patterson. Dr. Patterson observed injuries in Mr. Webster’s right knee and left hip. Dr. Patterson was most concerned about Mr. Webster’s hip. He observed Mr. Webster is “completely disabled” and recommended a “fairly urgent total hip replacement.” RII.179.

On August 24, 2018, Dr. Patterson submitted a preauthorization request to CHP for Mr. Webster’s surgery. CHP approved the request about a month later, on September 25, 2018. On October 25, 2018, Dr. Patterson realized that, back in August, he had mistakenly asked CHP to approve a total knee replacement for Mr. Webster, when he should have requested a total hip replacement, and he informed CHP of this error. 4 CHP approved

4 Dr. Patterson’s office told CHP about the erroneous knee replacement request via CHP’s provider portal. The note in the portal said: “We erroneously put in an auth [sic] request for this patient for the knee, which was approved, but Dr. Patterson at the bottom of his note says that the hip is much more urgent, needs to be done ASAP.” RII.129, 173 ¶ 19.

the corrected request on January 7, 2019. Mr. Webster underwent hip replacement surgery that same day. 5 After his surgery, Mr. Webster was “back to normal,” but doctors expected he would need a total right knee replacement. RII.177 ¶ 29.

B

In September 2019, Mr. Webster, proceeding pro se, filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 6 As relevant here, he alleged an Eighth Amendment claim against CHP for inadequate medical care, pointing to various delays in the treatment of his hip injury. Mr. Webster then requested the appointment of counsel, which the district court granted.

CHP first moved to dismiss Mr. Webster’s complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). While that motion was pending, the parties engaged in discovery, and CHP moved for summary judgment under Rule 56. CHP argued Mr. Webster’s Eighth Amendment claim against CHP—a Monell claim for municipal liability—

5 Mr. Webster said he was informed in November 2018 that he would

be having surgery the following month, but he later learned the surgery would be postponed for an unknown reason.

6 The district court ordered Mr. Webster to file an amended complaint

to comply with federal pleadings standards. The amended complaint is the operative pleading.

failed as a matter of law. 7 To recover against CHP, Mr. Webster first had to show a constitutional violation. But Mr. Webster could point to no evidence in the summary judgment record, CHP argued, that any individual employee was deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs.

The district court agreed and granted summary judgment to CHP. 8 It understood, in order to find municipal liability against CHP, Mr. Webster first had to show an underlying constitutional violation by a CHP employee. Turning to that threshold question, the district court explained, in the Eighth Amendment context, the “[d]eliberate indifference” standard “involves both an objective and a subjective component.” RII.198 (quoting Sealock v. Colorado, 218 F.3d 1205, 1209 (10th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks omitted)). CHP acknowledged, for purposes of summary

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