DeBoer v. Senior Bridges of Sparks Family Hospital, Inc.
DeBoer v. Senior Bridges of Sparks Family Hospital, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
By the Court,
In this appeal, we examine the duty of care owed by a medical facility when performing nonmedical functions. While we have embraced the duty owed by a medical facility towards its patients with respect to medical treatment, see Wickliffe v. Sunrise Hospital, 101 Nev. 542, 548, 706 P.2d 1383, 1388 (1985) (holding “that a hospital is required to employ that degree of skill and care expected of a reasonably competent hospital in the same or similar circumstances”), we have not previously addressed whether a medical facility has a duty of care beyond the duty to provide competent medical care. We take this opportunity to recognize that when a medical facility performs a nonmedical function, general negligence standards apply, such that the medical facility has a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm as a result of its actions.
FACTS
Gayle Savage
One week after Savage’s admission, a Senior Bridges social worker met with an individual identified as Peggy Violat Six, who offered to care for Savage upon her discharge from Senior Bridges on the condition that Savage execute a general power of attorney designating Six as her appointee for financial matters. Thereafter, Savage alleges, the Senior Bridges social worker provided Savage with a preprinted general power-of-attorney form, which Savage executed, ostensibly giving Six power over Savage’s personal and financial affairs. A notary public employed by Senior Bridges purportedly verified Savage’s execution and acknowledgment of the general power-of-attorney form. Savage was subsequently discharged by Senior Bridges into the care of Six, who allegedly proceeded to exploit Savage by misappropriating her money, real property, and other assets.
In response, Senior Bridges filed a motion to dismiss the complaint under NRCP 12(b)(5) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, contending that it did not have a duty to protect Savage from financial exploitation by a third party because, as a medical facility, its duty was limited to providing Savage with appropriate medical services and competent medical care. Savage opposed the motion, arguing that Senior Bridges had a duty to protect her from foreseeable harm of the type that she suffered. Alternatively, Savage asserted that Senior Bridges assumed a duty to protect her by facilitating her execution of the power-of-attorney form.
The district court granted Senior Bridges’ motion to dismiss, finding that Senior Bridges did not owe Savage a duty of care beyond the duty to provide competent medical care, and asserting that it would be fundamentally unfair to hold a medical facility liable for damages resulting from actions that occurred outside the scope of the healthcare-based relationship. Moreover, the court concluded that the harm of financial exploitation was not so “necessarily foreseeable” as to warrant imposing a duty of care on Senior Bridges in this case. Finally, the court expressed concern that recognizing a duty to assist patients with financial planning decisions would require medical facilities to employ financial planning experts and could potentially open the floodgates of litigation.
DISCUSSION
This court rigorously reviews de novo a district court order granting an NRCP 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss, accepting all of the plaintiff’s factual allegations as true and drawing every reasonable inference in the plaintiff’s favor to determine whether the allegations are sufficient to state a claim for relief. Sanchez v. Wal-Mart
Savage contends that Senior Bridges owed her a duty of care beyond the duty to provide competent medical care. In particular, she claims that the social worker employed by the facility failed to exercise due care when he helped her arrange her financial affairs in furtherance of her discharge. Senior Bridges acknowledges that it owed Savage a duty of reasonable care in the treatment of her medical conditions, but argues that it did not owe Savage a duty to protect her against third-party financial exploitation.
The district court, quoting Wickliffe v. Sunrise Hospital, 101 Nev. 542, 548, 706 P.2d 1383, 1388 (1985), found that Senior Bridges was required to employ “the ‘degree of skill and care expected of a reasonably competent hospital in the same or similar circumstances’ ” in diagnosing and treating Savage’s cognitive impairments, but had no duty to assist Savage with financial decisions prior to discharge. In doing so, the district court narrowly circumscribed the legal duty that Senior Bridges owed to Savage. The district court effectively furnished Senior Bridges with full immunity from claims stemming from nonmedical injuries on its premises. This is not sound policy and does not conform to our negligence jurisprudence. See generally Moody v. Manny's Auto Repair, 110 Nev. 320, 333, 871 P.2d 935, 943 (1994) (holding, in the context of landowner liability, that “all persons in this society have an obligation to act reasonably and . . . should be held to the general duty of reasonable care when another is injured”). Immunity from liability cannot be enjoyed simply due to one’s legal status. Wright v. Schum, 105 Nev. 611, 613-14, 781 P.2d 1142, 1143 (1989). Thus, a healthcare-based corporation’s status as a medical facility
Aside from the wide range of medical services healthcare-based facilities provide, they also offer diverse nonmedical services to the public, including, but not limited to, aftercare planning with social workers.
In order to prevail on a traditional negligence theory, a plaintiff must establish that (1) the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, (2) the defendant breached that duty, (3) the breach was the legal cause of the plaintiff’s injuries, and (4) the plaintiff suffered damages. Klasch v. Walgreen Co., 127 Nev. 832, 837, 264 P.3d 1155, 1158 (2011); see Driscoll v. Erreguible, 87 Nev. 97, 101, 482 P.2d 291, 294 (1971) (“Negligence is failure to exercise that degree of care in a given situation which a reasonable man under similar circumstances would exercise.”). This appeal concerns only the first of these four elements—the existence of a duty of care. As discussed herein, under general negligence standards, medical facilities have a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm when they furnish nonmedical services. See Wright, 105 Nev. at 614, 781 P.2d at 1143. The district court erred when it determined as a matter of law, based on the pleadings alone, that Senior Bridges’ actions breached its duty of reasonable care. See Butler v. Bayer, 123 Nev. 450, 464, 168 P.3d 1055, 1065 (2007) (“Because the question of whether reasonable care was exercised almost always involves factual inquiries, it is a matter that must generally be decided by a jury.”).
Accepting the allegations of the complaint as true and drawing inferences in favor of Savage, Sanchez v. Wal-Mart Stores, 125 Nev. 818, 823, 221 P.3d 1276, 1280 (2009), we conclude that the manner in which Senior Bridges effectuated Savage’s discharge could lead a reasonable jury to find that her financial injuries were a foreseeable result of the facility’s conduct. Because Senior Bridges specializes in elder care, a jury could reasonably determine that the facility should be particularly aware of concerns related to financial abuse of older, cognitively impaired patients. See Jane A. Black, Note, The Not-So-Golden Years: Power of Attorney, Elder Abuse, and Why Our Laws Are Failing a Vulnerable Population, 82 St. John’s L. Rev. 289, 291 (2008) (stating that “[financial exploitation of the elderly is the third most common
CONCLUSION
The allegations in Savage’s complaint, taken as true, establish a viable claim for relief. Consequently, we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing the complaint. Potential factual issues exist as to whether Senior Bridges acted negligently in overseeing Savage’s release from its medical facility. Therefore, we reverse the district court’s order dismissing the action against Senior Bridges and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Pickering and Hardesty, JJ., concur.
The named appellant in this appeal is the Washoe County Public Guardian, Susan DeBoer, who brought the action in her capacity as guardian for Gayle Savage. It is unclear from the complaint precisely when or under what circumstances DeBoer was appointed guardian of Savage.
As this opinion addresses the duty of a medical facility to exercise reasonable care and not a specific duty to assist patients with financial planning, we disagree with the district court’s concerns that hospitals will be required to employ financial planners to protect them from actions such as this one.
In her briefs filed in this court, Savage only argues under general negligence principles that Senior Bridges did not act with reasonable care in facilitating her aftercare plans. Hence, in deciding this appeal, we need not address whether a medical facility has an affirmative duty to protect its patients from the harmful acts of third parties. See Sanchez v. Wal-Mart Stores, 125 Nev. 818, 824, 221 P.3d 1276, 1280-81 (2009) (in Nevada, there is no duty to protect a person from the harmful conduct of a third party unless “(1) a special relationship exists between the parties or between the defendant and the identifiable victim, and (2) the harm created by the defendant’s conduct is foreseeable”); see also Sparks v. Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, 127 Nev. 287, 297-98, 255 P.3d 238, 244 (2011); Scialabba v. Brandise Constr. Co., 112 Nev. 965, 968-69, 921 P.2d 928, 930 (1996).
The statutes pertaining to the regulation of social workers are found in NRS Chapter 641B.
The district court essentially applied a medical malpractice standard. To prevail on a medical malpractice action, the plaintiff must demonstrate: “(1) that the doctor’s conduct departed from the accepted standard of medical care or practice; (2) that the doctor’s conduct was both the actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury; and (3) that the plaintiff suffered damages.” Prabhu v. Levine, 112 Nev. 1538, 1543, 930 P.2d 103, 107 (1996).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SUSAN DeBOER, in Her Capacity as the Legal Guardian of GAYLE SAVAGE, an Adult Ward v. SENIOR BRIDGES OF SPARKS FAMILY HOSPITAL, INC., dba NORTHERN NEVADA MEDICAL CENTER, a Domestic Corporation
- Cited By
- 23 cases
- Status
- Published