In its June 4, 2026 Order Affirmed decision, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed an order from the trial court that denied a nursing home’s motion to order arbitration of a resident’s personal injury claim. The Colorado appellate court held that a medical durable power of attorney (MDPOA) does not confer authority on the agent to enter into an arbitration agreement on behalf of her principal unless the MDPOA expressly grants that authority.
An MDPOA grants an agent powers “in consenting to or refusing medical treatment” on behalf of a principal. § 15-14-506(1), C.R.S. 2025. The MDPOA governing statute defines “medical treatment” as the “provision, withholding, or withdrawal of any health care, medical procedure . . . or service to maintain, diagnose, treat, or provide for a patient’s physical or mental health or personal care.” § 15-14-505(7), C.R.S. 2025.
Background Facts
In 2014, Marjorie Henderson signed an MDPOA, appointing one of her daughters, Brenda Wills, as her attorney-in-fact. The MDPOA specified the scope of actions Wills was authorized to take on Henderson’s behalf, including giving Wills authority
(1) to act for her “in all matters relating to [Henderson’s] health care”;
(2) “to consent . . . to all medical, surgical, hospital, and related health care treatments and procedures on [Henderson’s] behalf”;
(3) “to sign any documents required to request [release from a facility]. . . or to be released . . . to another facility”;
(4) “to provide . . . consent to health care treatments or procedures on [Henderson’s] behalf”; and
(5) “to authorize [Henderson’s] admission to or transfer from a health care facility.”
The MDPOA specifically prohibited Wills from acting for Henderson “for any other purpose unrelated to [her] health care.” It authorized Wills to act on Henderson’s behalf once the MDPOA was signed. It also provided that the power became effective when Henderson had been determined “to be incapable of providing informed consent for medical treatment and surgical and diagnostic procedures.”
Henderson was admitted to Sharmar’s nursing home in Pueblo nearly one decade after she signed the MDPOA. Henderson, Wills, and a Sharmar representative initially met to sign the admission paperwork. Henderson left midway through the meeting to attend another appointment, and Wills completed the paperwork alone, including signing the arbitration agreement.
Approximately one month after Henderson was admitted to Sharmar, she suffered two falls in roughly forty-eight hours. Doctors determined palliative care was the best course of action based on her injuries, and she died three days after her first fall.
Sharmar moved to compel arbitration and stay proceedings based on the arbitration agreement signed by Wills. The plaintiff opposed the motion, arguing the agreement was invalid because Wills had no authority to enter into an arbitration agreement on behalf of Henderson.
The Colorado Court of Appeals stated that an MDPOA agent’s authority to enter into an arbitration agreement when executing medical facility admissions forms is assumed unless otherwise restricted … “The question in this case is whether the execution of a voluntary arbitration agreement constitutes “medical treatment” within the meaning of the MDPOA statute … we apply Lujan’s and Fresquez’s analyses of what constitutes a medical treatment decision and hold that an MDPOA does not grant authority to the agent to enter into an arbitration agreement unless such authority is expressly stated in the MDPOA.”
“Sharmar did not in the district court and does not on appeal proffer any evidence that there were discussions between Henderson and Wills regarding an arbitration agreement, much less proffer any admissible evidence that Henderson orally authorized Wills to enter into an arbitration agreement. Therefore, we uphold the district court’s decision that Wills lacked implied authority to execute the arbitration agreement … We agree with the district court that there was no proof or reasonable interpretation “of Henderson’s written or spoken words or other conduct” that could have caused Sharmar to reasonably believe that Henderson consented to Wills’s signing the arbitration agreement on her behalf.”
Source Reno v. Continuum at Sharmar, Inc., 2026 COA 46.
If you or a loved one were injured (or worse) as a result of nursing home negligence in Colorado or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Colorado medical malpractice lawyer, or a local medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your nursing home medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a nursing home injury case, if appropriate.
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