On March 16, 2018, plaintiff, Barbara Stempniak, presented to the emergency department of Garden City Hospital with complaints of severe abdominal pain. The emergency department staff diagnosed Stempniak with cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) and admitted her to the hospital. The next day, a resident in the emergency department requested Dr. Gross, a general surgeon, to perform a surgical consultation. It was undisputed that Stempniak did not have a prior professional relationship with Dr. Gross.
On March 18, 2018, Dr. Gross and Dr. Katherine Homer, a Garden City Hospital resident, removed Stempniak’s gallbladder laparoscopically. Stempniak’s common bile duct was cut open during the surgery. As a result, Stempniak developed an infection and was transferred to another hospital where she underwent two surgeries to repair the damage to her bile duct. Following a multi-week hospital stay, Stempniak received long-term care in a rehabilitation facility.
Stempniak and her husband filed their Michigan medical malpractice lawsuit alleging that Dr. Gross negligently cut Stempniak’s bile duct during the surgery. Stempniak further alleged that Garden City Hospital was vicariously liable for Dr. Gross’s negligence because he was the actual, apparent, and/or ostensible employee of Garden City Hospital. Stempniak testified that she recalled having tests in the emergency room that revealed she needed gallbladder surgery. Because she was in extensive pain before her surgery, she did not recall any of the treating physicians or any conversations with treatment providers or administrators at Garden City Hospital. She vaguely recalled meeting Dr. Homer, but was unsure what role Homer had in her treatment. Although she recalled signing a consent form to perform the surgery, she did not recall any conversations preceding signing it and she was not sure that she understood all the provisions of the consent form because of her high level of pain at the time.
Following discovery, Garden City Hospital moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10) arguing that it could not be held vicariously liable because Dr. Gross was an independent contractor and that it had no agency relationship, either actual or ostensible, with Dr. Gross. The trial court denied the motion for summary disposition, and Garden City Hospital thereafter appealed.
The State of Michigan Court of Appeals stated in its unpublished Per Curiam opinion dated July 28, 2023: “In this case, Stempniak presented to the emergency room of Garden City Hospital for treatment of her abdominal pain that had persisted for three days. A member of the hospital’s emergency staff sought a surgical consultation with Dr. Gross. It was ultimately determined that Stempniak needed gallbladder surgery, which was performed by Dr. Gross. It is undisputed that Stempniak had never met Dr. Gross before the consultation and she did not have a pre-existing relationship with him or any of the other medical staff that treated her during her stay at Garden City Hospital. We find that there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that Stempniak went to Garden City Hospital for treatment of her physical ailments and expected to be treated by the hospital.”
“Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Stempniak as the non-moving party, we find that there is a genuine issue of material fact whether Stempniak had a reasonable belief that Gross was an agent of the hospital and thus affirm the trial court’s denial of the hospital’s motion for summary disposition.”
Source Stempniak v. Primehealth Services-Garden City, LLC, COA 361018.
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of medical malpractice in a hospital in Michigan or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Michigan medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your hospital medical negligence claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a hospital medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find hospital medical malpractice lawyers in your U.S. state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.