St. Francis Medical Center v. Vernon

• Decision Date: 02 August 1991
• Docket Number: No. 5-90-0703,5-90-0703
• Citation: 160 Ill.Dec. 276,576 N.E.2d 1230,217 Ill.App.3d 287
• Parties: , 160 Ill.Dec. 276 ST. FRANCIS MEDICAL CENTER, a Missouri Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. George W. VERNON, Jr., and Marilyn Vernon, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1230

576 N.E.2d 1230

217 Ill.App.3d 287, 160 Ill.Dec. 276

ST. FRANCIS MEDICAL CENTER, a Missouri Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. George W. VERNON, Jr., and Marilyn Vernon, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 5-90-0703.

Appellate Court of Illinois,

Fifth District.

Aug. 2, 1991.

William E. Aulgur, Eldorado, for plaintiff-appellant.

No brief filed.

Justice HARRISON delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, St. Francis Medical Center, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Union County dismissing with prejudice its first amended complaint. Defendants George W. Vernon, Jr., and Marilyn Vernon have not filed an appellees' brief in this court. However, in First Capitol Mortgage Corp. v. Talandis Construction Corp. (1976), 63 Ill.2d 128, 133, 345 N.E.2d 493, 495, our supreme court stated that in the absence of an appellee's brief, if the appellant's brief demonstrates prima facie reversible error and the contentions of the brief find support in the record, the judgment of the trial court may be reversed. We find that the present case meets these criteria and we therefore reverse.

Count I of plaintiff's first amended complaint alleged, inter alia, "[t]hat in the year 1984 the Plaintiff, at the request of the Defendants, provided hospital care and services to Marilyn Vernon, as is shown on an itemized statement of the account of the Defendants hereto attached, marked and designated as 'Plaintiff's Exhibit A,' and which, by reference thereto, is hereby made a part of this Complaint." Plaintiff further alleged that a balance remained unpaid to plaintiff by defendants in the amount of $5,352.94 and sought recovery of that sum from defendants as husband and wife.

Count II of plaintiff's complaint alleged "[t]hat prior to the rendition of such services and care by plaintiff, the Defendant Marilyn Vernon made, executed and delivered unto Plaintiff her certain agreement in writing, copy of which is hereto attached, marked and designated as 'Plaintiff's Exhibit B,' and which, by reference thereto, is hereby made a part of this Complaint." Count II further alleged that by the terms of this agreement, defendant Marilyn Vernon covenanted to pay plaintiff its regular charges for the services and goods to be furnished and to pay all reasonable collection expenses, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees if her account became delinquent and was referred to an attorney. Plaintiff claimed reasonable attorney fees from defendant Marilyn Vernon in the amount of $1,784.31.

Defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's first amended complaint, asserting that count I was barred by the statute of limitations set forth in section 13-205 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 110, par. 13-205), and that plaintiff's exhibit B, the document relied upon in count II, was defective because it was undated and not executed by both plaintiff and defendant. The trial court granted defendants' motion to dismiss without comment.

On appeal, plaintiff argues that the trial court's order is contrary to law and should be reversed, where defendant's motion sets forth no grounds for dismissal with prejudice of plaintiff's complaint. Plaintiff argues that although the hospital care and services were rendered in 1984, the five-year limitation on actions on unwritten contracts provided in section 13-205 presents no bar where plaintiff's exhibit A shows payments were received on the account through February 1990.

It is clear that part payment of a debt tolls the statute of limitations such that it commences to run from the date of last payment. (Department of Mental Health v. Mitchell (1975), 25 Ill.App.3d 988, 991, 324 N.E.2d 94, 96.) It is also true, as plaintiff claims, that exhibits attached to the complaint become part of the pleadings, and facts stated in such exhibits are considered the same as having been alleged in the complaint. (Ford v. University of Illinois Board of Trustees (1977), 55 Ill.App.3d 744, 747, 13 Ill.Dec. 478, 480, 371 N.E.2d 173, 175; Hazel Crest Federation of Teachers v. Board of Education (1990), 206 Ill.App.3d 69, 80, 150 Ill.Dec. 961, 968, 563 N.E.2d 1088, 1095.) Here, plaintiff's exhibit A, an itemized statement of defendants' account, was attached to and thereby...