People ex rel. v. Wiley
| Decision Date | 20 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 98763.,98763. |
| Citation | 218 Ill.2d 207,843 N.E.2d 259 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois ex rel. The DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Appellee, v. Thelma E. WILEY, M.D., Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Richard J. Prendergast, Chicago (Michael T. Layden, of counsel), for appellant.
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield (Gary Feinerman, Solicitor General, and Nadine J. Wichern, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (Department) filed suit in the circuit court of Cook County against Thelma E. Wiley, M.D., alleging that Wiley violated scholarship contracts she entered into with the Department pursuant to the Family Practice Residency Act (110 ILCS 935/1 et seq. (West 2002)), and that the Department was entitled to treble damages under section 10 of the same statute (110 ILCS 935/10 (West 2002)). The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the Department. The appellate court affirmed. 348 Ill.App.3d 809, 284 Ill.Dec. 824, 810 N.E.2d 614. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the appellate court.
Enacted in 1977, the Family Practice Residency Act (Act) (110 ILCS 935/1 et seq. (West 2002)) states that its purpose is to
To further this purpose, section 4.03 of the Act (110 ILCS 935/4.03 (West 2002)) authorizes the Department to "establish a program of medical student scholarships and to award scholarships to eligible medical students." An "[e]ligible medical student" is defined, in part, as a person who "agrees to practice full-time in a Designated Shortage Area as a primary care physician one year for each year he or she is a scholarship recipient." 110 ILCS 935/3.07(d) (West 2002). Thus, rather than awarding conventional scholarships, which do not have to be repaid, the Department awards "scholarship contracts," whereby students agree to a service commitment in exchange for receiving funds for medical schooling.
In addition to authorizing the creation of scholarship contracts, the Act also includes a penalty provision for scholarship recipients who fail to fulfill their statutory service obligation. Section 10 of the Act states that if a scholarship recipient fails to fulfill the obligation of serving as a full-time primary care physician in a designated shortage area, then the recipient "shall pay to the Department a sum equal to 3 times the amount of the annual scholarship grant for each year the recipient fails to fulfill such obligation." 110 ILCS 935/10 (West 2002).
In the case at bar, Wiley attended medical school from 1985 through 1989. During each of her four years of school, Wiley entered into a scholarship contract with the Department as authorized by the Act. The combined amount of the scholarships awarded to Wiley during the four years totaled $52,465.
Each of the four contracts also contains the following provision regarding the starting date of Wiley's term of service:
In addition, each of the contracts states that the Act is fully incorporated into the terms of the agreements and that, if the student fails to fulfill the terms of the contract, the Department is entitled to three times the amount of the scholarship awarded. Finally, each contract states that, if the student is required to reimburse the Department monetarily, then "[p]ayments shall begin within 30 days" from the date when the failure to perform occurs.
Wiley graduated from medical school in June of 1989. A month after her graduation, she began a three-year residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. The residency program was approved by the Department and thus, under the terms of her scholarship contracts, Wiley's service obligation was deferred until 30 days after the completion of the residency, i.e., until the beginning of August 1992.
In January of 1990, the Department sent Wiley a copy of a directory, prepared by the Department, which listed designated shortage areas in which scholarship recipients could fulfill their service obligations. In a cover letter that accompanied the directory, the Department noted that Wiley could "receive Departmental approval of [her] selected practice location up to 18 months preceding the completion of [her] residency."
In deposition testimony, Wiley stated that sometime near the end of her residency, she had "at least a couple" of phone conversations with Tom Yocum, the individual in charge of the scholarship program at the Department.1 Wiley testified that, during these conversations, she told Yocum she was thinking about pursuing a postresidency fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago in gastroenterology, a subspeciality of internal medicine dealing with the digestive system. Wiley stated that Yocum told her the fellowship "wasn't approved but he indicated that some agreement could be worked out as far as repaying the service." Wiley understood this to mean that "during or after [her] fellowship, [she] would be able to work as a primary care or in the field of primary care to repay [her] service debt." Wiley also testified that she did not actually apply for the fellowship until speaking with Yocum. According to Wiley, Yocum "indicated that possibly something could be worked out later on" and, after that, she applied for the fellowship. Wiley did not receive any document memorializing her conversations with Yocum. In September of 1991, Wiley signed an agreement with the University of Illinois at Chicago to do the postresidency fellowship.
Six months before Wiley's residency ended, in January 1992, the Department sent Wiley a letter in which it stated that it did not yet have "any indication from [her] regarding [her] selection of an underserved practice site." The Department asked Wiley to "please notify program staff at once" if she had decided upon a practice location, so that the Department would have sufficient time to verify that the practice site met the requirements of her scholarship contracts. The Department also noted that other scholarship recipients were seeking approval of practice locations and that "[t]he time required to locate a site, receive Departmental approval and make final contractual agreements with those at your practice locations is growing short." The Department offered to assist Wiley in selecting a practice location and enclosed a recent copy of the directory listing designated shortage areas. Wiley did not respond to this letter.
Just prior to the end of her residency, in June 1992, the Department sent Wiley another letter in which it again stated that she needed to choose a practice location and have it approved by the Department. The Department reminded Wiley that her scholarship obligation was deferred only until the end of her residency and that she would have to begin repaying her obligation, either through service or with money, within 30 days after the residency ended. Wiley did not respond to this letter.
On July 1, 1992, Wiley began her fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The fellowship lasted three years, until June 1995.
Three months after she began her fellowship, in October 1992, the Department sent Wiley a letter in which it noted that her service commitment was to have begun in August 1992. The Department stated that, because it had no indication that Wiley had started her service commitment, it presumed that she had "elected to monetarily repay [her] scholarship obligation." The Department noted that Wiley was required to pay three times the amount of the scholarships, or $157,395. The Department also stated that it was in the process of preparing a repayment contract for Wiley which it would be sending to her. Wiley did not respond to this letter.
In December 1992, the Department sent Wiley a repayment contract. The contract stated that Wiley had "elected to repay required funds in lieu of completing practice commitment," that the total amount owed, $157,395, would be paid off in 36 installments, and that the first payment was due January 1, 1993. In a cover letter, the Department asked Wiley to sign the contract and return it as soon as possible. Wiley did not return the contract or respond to the letter.
On January 29, 1993, the Department sent Wiley a certified letter which stated that, because she had not responded to any of the Department's previous letters, her account would be referred to a collection agency or the Illinois Attorney General for further action.
On February 13, 1993,...
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