Platts v. Parents Helping Parents
| Decision Date | 07 October 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 950352,950352 |
| Citation | 947 P.2d 658 |
| Parties | 327 Utah Adv. Rep. 35 Ron PLATTS, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Gary Scott Platts, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PARENTS HELPING PARENTS dba Turnabout; Alan Comins; and John Does I through XXXV, Defendants and Petitioners. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
J. Bruce Savage, Park City, for plaintiff and respondent.
Jaryl L. Rencher, Salt Lake City, for defendants and petitioners.
ON CERTIORARI TO THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS
This matter is here for review on a writ of certiorari to the court of appeals.
Ron Platts filed an action against Parents Helping Parents dba Turnabout and Alan Comins (collectively, "Turnabout") alleging liability for the suicide death of his son Gary. Platts filed this action in his own behalf and as personal representative of the estate of Gary Scott Platts. Turnabout moved for summary judgment, claiming that it was a "health care provider" under the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act ("Malpractice Act" or "Act") and that Platts had failed to comply with the procedural requirements of that Act before filing suit and therefore the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The trial court granted the motion. The court of appeals reversed the trial court, holding that Turnabout was not a "health care provider" under the Malpractice Act and, thus, compliance with the procedural requirements was not mandated. The court of appeals remanded the matter to the trial court for further action. We reverse.
In 1989, the juvenile court referred Platts' son Gary to a program at Turnabout as part of his probation due to behavioral and disciplinary problems. Turnabout operated a On February 27, 1990, Turnabout released Gary to attend school. However, instead of attending school, Gary ran away. Turnabout notified Platts of the situation and advised him to wait for Gary at his house because Gary was likely to return there. On March 4, 1990, Platts returned home and found his son dead. Gary had committed suicide.
treatment program for troubled youths that was licensed by the Utah State Department of Human Services. The contract admitting Gary to Turnabout was signed in June of 1989. It provided that he was to be treated for problems associated with running away, truancy, depression, substance abuse, and feelings of inadequacy. Because of Gary's truancy from the Turnabout program, Turnabout changed his status in February 1990 from day treatment to twenty-four-hour residential treatment, removing Gary from Platts' home and placing him with another family.
On April 5, 1991, Platts filed a civil complaint against Turnabout, alleging that Turnabout was liable for the death of his son. On April 14, 1993, Turnabout moved for summary judgment, claiming that Turnabout was a "health care provider" under the Malpractice Act and that since Platts had failed to comply with the mandatory procedural requirements of that Act before filing suit, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.
The Act provides that "[n]o malpractice action against a health care provider may be initiated unless and until the plaintiff gives the prospective defendant ... at least ninety days['] prior notice of intent to commence an action," the plaintiff has filed a request for prelitigation panel review within sixty days thereafter, and a panel opinion has been rendered. Utah Code Ann. §§ 78-14-8 to -12. It further provides that malpractice actions must be brought within two years of discovery of the injury. Utah Code Ann. § 78-14-4.
The trial court granted Turnabout's motion for summary judgment on March 1, 1994, concluding that defendant was indeed a "health care provider" under the Malpractice Act and that because plaintiff had not complied with the prerequisites for bringing a lawsuit, the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Platts appealed.
The court of appeals reversed the lower court, concluding as a matter of law that Turnabout was not a "health care provider," that the procedural requirement of the Malpractice Act did not apply, and that the case was therefore properly before the lower court. In so ruling, the court of appeals applied a correctness standard of review, granting no deference to the trial court. It stated:
The titles of Turnabout and Mr. Comins were not included among those identified as "health care providers" in section 78-14-3(11), nor are they so similar to those listed as to leave no reasonable doubt as to their status. Thus, we hold that Turnabout and Mr. Comins are not "health care providers"....
Platts v. Parents Helping Parents, 897 P.2d 1228, 1232 (Utah.Ct.App.1995).
In reaching this conclusion, the court of appeals stated that the statute was unclear as to intended coverage and therefore the court would "consider the effect a given statutory construction" would have to achieve the purpose of the legislation, i.e., to control rising costs of malpractice insurance. Id. at 1231. In doing so, it noted that the legislature identified those it labeled "health care providers" who would come within the protection of the Act and that with the exception of "hospitals" and "clinical laboratory technologists," they were all licensed professionally under title 58. Id.
As for the statutory language that includes as "health care providers" "others rendering similar care and services," see Utah Code Ann. § 78-14-3(11), the court of appeals stated that it was construing this phrase narrowly to cover the "rare case" where "no reasonable doubt" exists as to a potential defendant's necessary inclusion among those listed as "health care providers." 897 P.2d at 1232. In the case of Turnabout, the court of appeals held that it was not among those specifically listed as "health care providers" nor was it so similar to those so listed as to leave no reasonable doubt as to its status. Furthermore, the court of appeals stated that because it held "as a matter of law" that Turnabout argues that the court of appeals erred in interpreting the Malpractice Act to exclude Turnabout from the protections contained therein. Turnabout claims that it rendered care and services similar to those rendered by health care providers explicitly mentioned in the Act and was therefore a "health care provider" as defined by the Act. 1
Turnabout was not a "health care provider," it need not address Platts' alternative argument that there were disputed issues of fact as to this question. Id.
Platts responds that the court of appeals' construction of the statute was proper inasmuch as Turnabout was not explicitly listed in the Act, nor was Turnabout similar enough to those explicitly listed to qualify as a "health care provider." Therefore, Platts argues, the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction.
The primary issue before this court is whether Turnabout was a "health care provider" as defined by the Malpractice Act. Because this issue is ultimately dispositive, the remaining issue of whether summary judgment can be affirmed on other grounds need not be addressed.
When exercising our certiorari jurisdiction, we review the decision of the court of appeals, not of the trial court. Butterfield v. Okubo, 831 P.2d 97, 101 n. 2 (Utah 1992). Initially, we must determine whether the court of appeals applied the appropriate standard of review to the trial court's decision. In this case, the court of appeals reviewed for correctness the trial court's determination that Turnabout was a "health care provider" under the Malpractice Act as a matter of law, granting no deference to the trial court's conclusion. The court of appeals stated:
Because we hold as a matter of law that Turnabout and Mr. Comins are not health care providers, we need not address Mr. Platts' alternative argument that there existed a disputed issue of material fact as to whether Turnabout and Mr. Comins are health care providers.
Platts, 897 P.2d at 1232. However, the issue before the court of appeals was a mixed question of law and fact that required a review of the trial court's application of statutory law to findings of facts. Matters of statutory construction are questions of law that are reviewed for correctness. State v. Petersen, 810 P.2d 421, 424 (Utah 1991). Questions of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard, with deference given to the trial court. Id. at 425. The trial court's application of law to the facts is reviewed for abuse of discretion. State v. Pena, 869 P.2d 932, 937 (Utah 1994).
The Utah Health Care Malpractice Act was enacted in 1976 to control the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance. Utah Code Ann. § 78-14-2. To this end, the statute requires that certain procedural steps be taken before a lawsuit can be filed against a health care provider. Such protections include notice of intent to commence an action, id. § 78-14-8, a prelitigation panel review, id. § 78-14-12(2), and an abbreviated statute of limitations. Id. § 78-14-4(1). An action cannot be brought if these prerequisites are not met. Utah Code Ann. § 78-14-8.
Whether Turnabout is a "health care provider" under the Malpractice Act is of primary importance. If Turnabout is a "health care provider," Platts' suit against Turnabout is barred for failure to comply with the prerequisites of the Act. If Turnabout is not a "health care provider" under the Act, however, Platts will be able to pursue his claim against Turnabout. Therefore, the statutory definition of "health care provider" is vital to the determination of this matter.
The Act defines "health care provider" as follows "Health care provider" includes any person, partnership, association, corporation, or other facility or institution who causes to be rendered or who renders health care or professional services as a hospital, physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, nurse-midwife, dentist, dental hygienist, optometrist, clinical laboratory technologist,...
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