Scott v. Wingate Wilderness Therapy, LLC

• Citation: 493 P.3d 592
• Decision Date: 09 July 2021
• Docket Number: No. 20190953,20190953
• Court: Supreme Court of Utah
• Parties: Jacob M. SCOTT, Appellant, v. WINGATE WILDERNESS THERAPY, LLC, Appellee.

493 P.3d 592

Jacob M. SCOTT, Appellant,

v.WINGATE WILDERNESS THERAPY, LLC, Appellee.

No. 20190953

Supreme Court of Utah.

Heard November 17, 2020

Filed July 9, 2021

John D. Luthy, Brandon J. Baxter, Logan, for appellants

Andrew M. Morse, Nathan A. Crane, Dani N. Cepernich, Salt Lake City, for appellees

Justice Pearce authored the opinion of the Court in which Chief Justice Durrant, Associate Chief Justice Lee, Justice Himonas, and Justice Petersen joined.

Justice Pearce, opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶1 The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has a question about the reach of the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act (Malpractice Act or Act), UTAH CODE §§ 78B-3-401 through 426. See Scott v. Wingate Wilderness Therapy, LLC , 792 F. App'x 590, 591 (10th Cir. 2019). The Tenth Circuit wants to know if the Act applies to a claim that Jacob Scott brought seeking relief for injuries he sustained as a minor while rock climbing during a "wilderness therapy" hiking excursion. See id. The Tenth Circuit certified the question to this court, and we agreed to answer.

¶2 We conclude that an injury sustained while climbing a rock formation during a "wilderness therapy" excursion can, depending on the circumstances, "relat[e] to or aris[e] out of health care rendered ... by [a] health care provider." See UTAH CODE § 78B-3-403(17). And we conclude that the injury at the heart of the claims here related to or arose out of treatment a health care provider rendered. As such, the Act applies to the claims the plaintiff asserts.

BACKGROUND

¶3 We state the facts and procedural history as the United States District Court and Tenth Circuit described them. See Scott v. Wingate Wilderness Therapy, LLC (Scott II ), 792 F. App'x 590 (10th Cir. 2019) ; Scott v. Wingate Wilderness Therapy, LLC (Scott I ), No. 4:18-CV-0002-DN, 2019 WL 1206901 (D. Utah Mar. 14, 2019).

¶4 The plaintiff-appellant in the underlying federal case, Jacob M. Scott (Jacob), was injured while rock climbing under the supervision of the defendant-appellee, Wingate Wilderness Therapy, LLC (Wingate).¹ Scott II , 792 F. App'x at 591. At the time, Jacob was a participant in Wingate's "wilderness therapy" program. Id.

Wingate's Program

¶5 Wingate provides "wilderness therapy" to adolescents. Id. Wingate operates as an "outdoor youth program" licensed by the Utah Department of Human Services to provide "behavioral, substance abuse, [and] mental health services" to minors. See Scott I , 2019 WL 1206901, at *1–3 (alteration in original) (citing UTAH CODE § 62A-2-101 );² see also UTAH ADMIN. CODE r. 501-8.³

¶6 Persons enrolled in Wingate's program "live in the wilderness during their time at Wingate" and participate in "hiking and camping, as well as individual and group therapy." Scott II , 792 F. App'x at 591.⁴ State regulations require Wingate, as an "outdoor youth program," to employ "clinical and therapeutic personnel," and require those personnel to be licensed or working under a state-certified training program. See UTAH ADMIN. CODE r. 501-8-6(8). Wingate employs "various professionals, including licensed therapists and psychologists," who conduct therapy sessions and create "treatment plan[s]" for participants. Scott II , 792 F. App'x at 591–92.

¶7 Wingate also employs field staff who lead hiking and wilderness activities. See id. at 592. Wingate's briefing asserts that its field staff "implement the treatment plans prepared for the patient-residents by licensed health care providers." Both parties agree that Wingate's "field staff are not licensed therapists or medical doctors." Both parties also agree that the field staff are nevertheless subject to Utah Department of Human Services regulations, which require that all field staff, at a minimum, be: "annually trained and certified in CPR and currently certified in standard first aid," UTAH ADMIN. CODE r. 501-8-6(3)(h), (4)(c), (5)(d), (6)(e) ; experienced in "recreational therapy," id. 501-8-6(2)(d), (3)(d); and trained and demonstrate "proficiency" in "counseling, teaching and supervisory skills," "conflict resolution[ ] and behavior management," as well as "safety procedures and safe equipment use," "wilderness medicine," "CPR," and "standard first aid." Id. 501-8-8(2).

Jacob's Treatment Plan

¶8 When Jacob was seventeen, his parents enrolled him in Wingate's wilderness therapy program. Scott II , 792 F. App'x at 592. Toward the beginning of his stay, Jacob met with a licensed marriage and family therapist Wingate employed (Therapist or Wingate's Therapist). Id. The Therapist created a written "treatment plan" for Jacob:

Jacob [will] participate in weekly individual and group therapy as well as daily psychoeducational and process groups. He will be immersed in wilderness principles and experiences, and will have the opportunity to learn & apply ‘Leave No Trace’ principles throughout his outdoor experience at WinGate. He will have the opportunity to learn outdoor survival skills as well as a variety of methods for making and utilizing primitive tools, instruments, and shelters. Jacob will be introduced to new philosophies and strategies to assist him in creating a more effective path for himself and for his family relationships.

Id. Later, in a sworn statement, the Therapist "described the treatment plan as providing for, ‘among other things, weekly individual and group therapy sessions, daily psychoeducational and process groups, hiking (exercise), and recommended a stay in the therapeutic program for eight weeks.’ " Id. (citation omitted). Neither the written treatment plan nor the Therapist's deposition testimony mention climbing as a component of Jacob's therapy.

The Climbing Accident and Injury

¶9 Two weeks into Wingate's program, Jacob and six other youths went hiking, accompanied by two Wingate staff members. Id. During the hike, the lead staff member temporarily left the group.⁵ Id. The remaining staff member let the youth, at their request, climb a "seventy-foot-tall, snow-dusted rock formation." Id. at 591. The staff member provided no climbing gear, training, or physical assistance. Id. at 591–92. Jacob and three others reached the top, "but Jacob and at least one other boy found it much more difficult to climb back down." Id. at 592. While Jacob was struggling to descend the rock formation, the lead staff member rejoined the group. Id. "Neither staff member offered Jacob any physical assistance, but one of them advised Jacob to follow a certain route down. As Jacob tried to do so, he slipped on the snow and fell approximately twenty-five feet to the ground, landing on his left knee." Id. Jacob's knee shattered. Id. at 591.

The Negligence Claim

¶10 Three years after the accident and more than two years after Jacob's eighteenth birthday, Jacob filed a lawsuit against Wingate in federal district court. Id. at 592–93. Jacob alleged that Wingate breached its duty of care to him by:

(i) allowing the youth to take a detour from the designated route; (ii) allowing the lead staff member to leave the group with only one staff member remaining with the group; (iii) not doing anything to determine whether the climbing of the rock formation would be safe for the youth; (iv) not properly assessing the danger of allowing the youth to climb the rock formation; (v) allowing the youth to climb the dangerous rock formation without supervision; (vi) allow[ing] the youth to climb the dangerous rock formation without any safety gear; (vii) not assisting Jacob with his descent down the rock formation[;] and (viii) instructing [Jacob] to climb down the rock formation when and where it was dangerous to do so.

Id. at 593 (alterations in original) (quoting Scott I , 2019 WL 1206901, at *2 ).

District Court Dismissal

¶11 The federal district court granted Wingate's motion to dismiss. Scott I, 2019 WL 1206901, at *5. The court concluded that the Malpractice Act applied to Jacob's claims and that Jacob had failed to file his action within the two-year statute of limitations. Id. Nor had Jacob complied with the Act's procedural hurdles. Id. The court arrived at this conclusion after finding that, under the Act, Wingate is a "health care provider" and Jacob's alleged injury "relates to or arose out of health care" Wingate rendered or should have rendered. Id .

¶12 The district court found that Wingate is a "health care provider" under the Act because Wingate employs "several licensed medical and mental health professionals, including clinical social workers, certified social workers, mental health counselors and a psychologist," as well as a "licensed marriage and family therapist" who, the court assumed, "provide[ ] services that [are] similar to those provided by" health care providers expressly listed in the Act. Id. at *3 (citing UTAH CODE § 78B-3-403(12) ); see also id. at *5. The court also reasoned that Wingate provides "behavioral or mental health services" and, therefore, its services must "relat[e] to or aris[e] out of the health needs of persons or groups of persons." Id. at *3 (alterations in original) (citing UTAH CODE § 78B-3-403(12) ).

¶13 The district court further found Jacob's alleged injury "relates to or arises out of health care" because Jacob's complaint alleges that, at the time of the injury, Wingate was "attempting to provide behavioral or mental health services" to him. Id. at *3 (citation omitted). The court therefore implicitly determined that Jacob's lawsuit constituted a "malpractice action against a health care provider"—an action which is subject to the Act's procedural requirements. See id. at *3–5 ; see also UTAH CODE § 78B-3-403(17).

The Tenth Circuit's Certified Question to the Utah Supreme Court

¶14 Jacob appealed to the Tenth Circuit, "arguing the district court erred in finding his injuries arose out of health care provided by Wingate." Scott II , 792 F. App'x at 591. The Tenth Circuit determined that "the disposition of this appeal turns on an important and unsettled question of Utah law." Id. That cou...