Beverly Enterprises-Florida, Inc. v. Knowles
Decision Date | 24 May 2000 |
Docket Number | No. 4D98-0765.,4D98-0765. |
Citation | 766 So.2d 335 |
Parties | BEVERLY ENTERPRISES-FLORIDA, INC., d/b/a Beverly Gulf Coast-Florida, Inc., d/b/a Washington Manor Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, Appellant/ Cross-Appellee, v. Maggie KNOWLES, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Gladstone Knowles, Deceased, Appellee/ Cross-Appellant. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Seth A. Honowitz and Scott A. Mager of Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan & Berlin, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, and Edward C. Prieto and George F. Quintairos of Quintairos, Mccumber, Prieto & Wood, P.A., Miami, for appellant/cross-appellee.
Jane Kreusler-Walsh of Jane Kreusler-Walsh, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Jeffrey M. Fenster of Fenster and Faerber, P.A., Plantation, for appellee/cross-appellant.
Joel S. Perwin of Podhurst, Orseck, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow, Olin & Perwin, P.A., and Ford & Sinclair, P.A., Miami, for Amicus Curiae-Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.
Edward J. Lyons of Milcowitz & Lyons, P.A., Clearwater, for Amicus Curiae-The Coalition to Protect America's Elders.
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC
Gladstone Knowles, an elderly gentleman, was a resident of Washington Manor Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center for approximately 67 days while he convalesced from hip-replacement surgery. While at Washington Manor, Knowles developed severe bedsores and other serious ailments allegedly because of neglectful and improper treatment and care provided by Washington Manor. Knowles was transferred to a medical hospital where he later died. Maggie Knowles, the personal representative for Gladstone Knowles, sued Washington Manor for violation of the Patient's Bill of Rights under sections 400.022 and 400.023, Florida Statutes (1997). Washington Manor moved for summary judgment because the complaint did not allege that any violation of the statute caused Gladstone's death. Appellee conceded that Gladstone's death did not result from any of the alleged violations of the Patient's Bill of Rights. Interpreting section 400.023(1) to preclude actions by a personal representative when the patient's death is not caused by a deprivation of rights under the statute, the trial court granted appellant's motion for summary judgment. After the trial court disposed of the statutory negligence claims, the case went to trial on a common law negligence theory.
The jury returned a verdict for Washington Manor. Thereafter, this court held in Greenfield v. Manor Care, Inc., 705 So.2d 926 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), appeal dismissed, 717 So.2d 534 (Fla.1998), that section 400.023(1) permits a personal representative to bring a cause of action for damages arising out of violations of section 400.022 regardless of whether the violations caused the death of the resident. Pursuant to our holding in Greenfield, the trial court granted appellee's motion for a new trial because the court determined that it erred by dismissing appellee's statutory negligence claims. We recede from Greenfield and hold that the language of section 400.023 unambiguously provides that a personal representative of a deceased, nursing home resident may bring an action against the nursing home for violation of the Patient's Bill of Rights only when the deprivation or infringement of the resident's rights caused the patient's death. Accordingly, we find that the trial court was right in its initial ruling dismissing the statutory negligence claims, and we, therefore, reverse the order granting a new trial.1
Florida Statutes chapter 400, Part II, Nursing Homes (§§ 400.011-400.335)(1997), provides comprehensive statutory standards for the operation of nursing homes and related facilities and the treatment of residents in those facilities. Section 400.022 furnishes a detailed listing of "[r]esidents' rights." Section 400.023 affords muscle to the Patient's Bill of Rights by establishing a civil cause of action:
In receding from the majority holding in Greenfield, we adopt the reasoning of Judge Warner's dissent where she wrote:
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