Hyde v. University of Washington Medical Center
Hyde v. University of Washington Medical Center
Opinion of the Court
¶1
A nonprofit corporation that is functionally an arm of the State is subject to the tort claim filing requirements of RCW 4.92.100 and .110. The Association of University Physicians, d/b/a UW Physicians (UWP), a nonprofit corporation, provides physician services
FACTS
¶2 On August 27, 2012, Steven Hyde and his wife, Sandra Brooke, brought a medical malpractice suit alleging that Dr. Virany Hillard was negligent in providing medical care to Hyde at the UW Medical Center in August 2009. Dr. Hillard, a neurosurgeon, was a member of UWP and was on the UW School of Medicine faculty at the time. UWP provides physician services at the UW Medical Center. All its members are physicians who are faculty members at the UW School of Medicine with no independent private practice. The complaint did not name Dr. Hillard as a defendant, but named the State of Washington, the UW Medical Center, and UWP.
¶3 The defendants moved for summary judgment based on Hyde’s failure to submit a notice of tort claim before commencing the action as required by RCW 4.92.100 and .110 for tort claims against a state entity. The trial court granted the motion as to the State of Washington and the UW Medical Center, but denied it as to UWP. The court concluded that UWP is not a municipal corporation but is a nonprofit corporation dealing with the public at large and, therefore, RCW 4.92.110 does not apply. This court granted UWP’s motion for discretionary review.
DISCUSSION
¶4 UWP contends that it is a state entity subject to the tort claim filing requirements of RCW 4.92.100 and .110. We agree.
¶6 By enacting chapter 4.92 RCW, the legislature abrogated state sovereign immunity and established procedures for suing the State. Among these are the filing requirements provided in RCW 4.92.100 and .110, which preclude tort claims against the State unless the plaintiff first files a tort claim with the State’s risk management office at least 60 days before commencing the action:
All claims against the state, or against the state’s officers, employees, or volunteers, acting in such capacity, for damages arising out of tortious conduct, must be presented to the office of risk management.[2 ]
No action subject to the claim filing requirements of RCW 4.92.100 shall be commenced against the state, or against any state officer, employee, or volunteer, acting in such capacity, for damages arising out of tortious conduct until sixty calendar days have elapsed after the claim is presented to the [office of] risk management.[3 ]
Dismissal is the proper remedy for failure to comply with these tort claim filing requirements.
¶7 As both parties acknowledge, our courts have not addressed the precise question of whether an entity such as UWP, which provides physician services in hospitals owned and operated by the university and whose members are UW faculty members, constitutes a state entity for purposes of
¶8 Generally, an entity operated and managed by a state agency for a state purpose is considered an arm of the State. For example, in Hontz v. State, the court recognized that for purposes of immunity from 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights lawsuits, Harborview Medical Center “is an arm of the State” because it is operated and managed by UW, a state agency.
¶9 Specifically, tort claim notice requirements for state entities extend to those who function on behalf of the State, especially if that activity exposes state funds to liability. In Hardesty v. Stenchever, this court addressed the applicability of the tort claim filing statutes to a doctor employed by the UW Medical Center.
*931 As a physician at the UW, treating patients is his “official” duty. He has no others. Under RCW 4.92, the attorney general is required to defend him and satisfy any judgment against him. The suit, therefore, exposes state funds to liability, making this precisely the type of case to which RCW 4.92 applies.[10 ]
¶10 The character and function of UWP are evidenced by its articles of incorporation, bylaws, and operating agreement with the university. UWP is a nonprofit corporation created under chapter 24.03 RCW “for the benefit of the University of Washington School of Medicine exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, and to aid in performing certain functions of and to carry out certain purposes of the University of Washington School of Medicine.”
¶11 UWP provides physician services only at hospitals owned or managed by UW and other practice sites approved by the medical school dean. The physicians who provide these services must be faculty members of the UW School of Medicine, must have no independent private medical practice, and, unless otherwise approved by the medical school dean, must be licensed to practice medicine in Washington. Adi records of care provided by UWP members at UW facilities are the property of UW.
¶12 UWP is responsible for billing for the services rendered by its members and retains payments received as its property. Members are compensated by UWP in addition to
¶13 As provided in the operating agreement, UWP members are deemed agents of UW for professional liability purposes:
Members of the University’s faculty, house staff and students involved in providing health care in University facilities shall be deemed employees and agents of the University for professional liability coverage purposes and self-insurance purposes by the University when providing care to patients in facilities owned or managed by or affiliated with the University as a part of an approved University research or other health care program.[14 ]
¶14 UWP contends that as with Harborview, which is only managed and operated by UW, UWP is also “an arm of the state.” Pet’r’s Br. at 13. UWP’s analogy to Harborview is persuasive.
¶15 While Hontz was in the context of state immunity from 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims, the question there was whether the suit against Harborview was “in legal effect a suit against the State,” the same issue presented here.
¶16 Similarly, UWP is operated and managed by UW. The operating agreement recites that UWP “has been organized for the purposes of assisting the University School of Medicine in carrying out its charitable, educational, and scientific purposes.”
¶17 Additionally, as UW faculty members, all UWP members are also UW employees. Compensation through UWP allows members to provide professional services in conjunction with their role as UW faculty and to be compensated at levels necessary to attract quality physicians, as authorized by the legislature under the single paycheck rule.
¶18 Hardesty further supports UWP’s position. While Hardesty addressed whether the tort claim filing requirements applied to an individual doctor providing care at UW Medical Center, the reasoning extends to UWP, which fills substantially the same role. In Hardesty, the court held that because the doctor was treating patients at the UW Medical Center in his official duties as a physician at the university, the suit “exposes state funds to liability, making this precisely the type of case to which RCW 4.92 applies.”
¶19 Further, the use of a separate nonprofit corporation does not preclude the entity from being considered as an arm of the State. UWP contends that it is like UW’s student association, Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW), which was recognized as an agency of the university in Good v. Associated Students of University of Washington.
¶20 The trial court here distinguished Good, concluding that UWP “is not a municipal corporation. It is a nonprofit corporation dealing with the public at large, unlike the [ASUW] in Good.”
¶21 Woods v. Bailet further supports applying the tort claim filing requirements to UWP.
¶22 Hyde argues, without citation to authority, that applying the tort claim filing statutes to a corporation like UWP would be unconstitutional under the privileges and immunities clause, article I, section 12 of the state constitution.
CONCLUSION
¶24 UWP was created by a state entity, UW, to provide public health care on behalf of that entity and to support the public university. UWP was created “for the benefit of” the UW medical school “exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes” and “to aid in performing certain functions of and to carry out certain purposes of” the UW medical school.
Review denied at 184 Wn.2d 1005 (2015).
Lybbert v. Grant County, 141 Wn.2d 29, 34, 1 P.3d 1124 (2000).
RCW 4.92.100(1).
RCW 4.92.110.
Oda v. State, 111 Wn. App. 79, 87, 44 P.3d 8 (2002).
105 Wn.2d 302, 310, 714 P.2d 1176 (1986).
82 Wn. App. 253, 917 P.2d 577 (1996).
Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 38.
See CP at 60 (“The Association shall have no claim upon any member’s University salary.”).
CP at 70.
CP at 75.
UWP also relies on Kleyer v. Harborview Medical Center of University of Washington, 76 Wn. App. 542, 887 P.2d 468 (1995). Although Kleyer did not analyze whether Harborview was a state entity, it did apply the claim filing requirements to Harborview. Id. at 543.
105 Wn.2d at 310.
id.
id.
CP at 68.
CP at 62.
CP at 56.
See RCW 42.52.110 (preventing receipt of additional compensation for performance of official duties except by the State, or “an agency or instrumentality of a governmental entity, or a nonprofit corporation organized for the benefit and
86 Wn.2d 94, 542 P.2d 762 (1975).
CP at 83.
116 Wn. App. 658, 67 P.3d 511 (2003).
Id. at 665.
Id.
“No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens, or corporations.” Wash. Const, art. I, §12.
Br. of Resp’t at 4.
“The legislature shall direct by law, in what manner, and in what courts, suits may be brought against the state.” Wash. Const, art. II, § 26.
See McDevitt v. Harborview Med. Ctr., 179 Wn.2d 59, 68-69, 316 P.3d 469 (2013) (finding 90-day presuit notice requirement of former RCW 7.70.100(1) (2006) did not violate equal protection).
Br. of Resp’t at 4.
CP at 38.
CP at 69-70.
UWP’s reliance on McDevitt, a medical negligence suit brought against the State, Harborview, and UWP is not persuasive. McDevitt addressed only the constitutionality of the 90-day presuit notice requirement of former RCW 7.70-.100(1) as applied to lawsuits against the State. It did not directly or indirectly implicate whether UWP was subject to the tort claim filing requirements. McDevitt, 179 Wn.2d at 68-69.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Steven W. Hyde v. The University of Washington Medical Center
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published