State ex rel. Bronaugh v. City of Parkersburg
| Citation | 136 S.E.2d 783,148 W.Va. 568 |
| Decision Date | 09 June 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 12312,12312 |
| Court | Supreme Court of West Virginia |
| Parties | STATE ex rel. Wayne BRONAUGH v. The CITY OF PARKERSBURG, West Virginia, etc., et al. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. A regularly licensed physician and surgeon who has conformed to the law and to all reasonable rules and regulations of a public hospital has a right to become a member of the staff thereof and, in the event such right is denied, he shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard and to offer his defense to any charges upon which such denial is based
2. The governing body of a public hospital has a duty either to admit a regularly licensed physician and surgeon to staff membership, upon proper application, or to deny the application for substantial cause or reason and, in the event of the latter, the said governing body is under the further duty to afford the applicant an opportunity to be heard and defend against any charges brought against him or upon any matter pertaining to the rules and regulations of said hospital.
3. Mandamus will lie to compel the governing body of a public hospital to perform its duty of either admitting a regularly licensed physician and surgeon to staff membership, upon proper application, or of denying such application for substantial cause or reason; and mandamus will also lie to compel the said governing body to grant the applicant a hearing if his application is denied.
4. "Mandamus lies to control the action of an administrative officer in the exercise of his discretion when such action is arbitrary or capricious.' Syllabus, Beverly Grill, Inc. v. Crow, 133 W.Va. 214 .' Point 2, Syllabus, Backus v. Abbot, 136 W.Va. 891 .
William L. Jacobs, Parkersburg, for relator.
Charles V. Renner, Parkersburg, for respondents.
In this original proceeding in mandamus instituted in this Court on February 4, 1964, the petitioner, Wayne Bronaugh, seeks a writ to compel the defendants, The City of Parkersburg, a Municipal Corporation, and Paul D. Bee, Superintendent of the Department of Public Safety of the City of Parkersburg and, as such, an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees of the Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, and H. E. Dearth, Okey Bailes, George Stevenson, W. W. Jackson, Max Beren, Dr. Charles Goodhand, Elsie G. Hiehle, B. Barrett Evans, Roy Bundy, R. E. Stealey, Kathryn M. England, Joseph R. Farra, George Ruoff and H. Sutton Sharp, as members of the Board of Trustees of the Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, 'to honor the petitioner's application for Staff Membership in and to use the facilities of the said Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, or in the alternative commanding and compelling the said Board of Trustees of said Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital to give to the petitioner notice and hearing as required by law with respect to his request for Staff Membership and request for the privilege of using the facilities of said public hospital, * * *.' A rule was granted by this Court returnable April 28, 1964, at which time the case was submitted for decision upon the pleadings, exhibits and stipulation, and upon the briefs and arguments of counsel.
Wayne Bronaugh is a physician and surgeon. Although he is a resident of Belpre, Ohio, he has been licensed to practice medicine in the State of West Virginia since 1933 and has practiced his profession in the Parkersburg area for more than thirty years. Doctor Bronaugh is a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the Ohio and West Virginia Medical Associations, and is a member of the Parkersburg Academy of Medicine. For many years the petitioner had been a meber of the staff of the Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital and performed professional services for his patients at that institution.
Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital is a public hospital. It is owned by the City of Parkersburg and is under the general supervision and control of the council of said city, acting through a Board of Trustees, the members of which are defendants in this proceeding.
On July 1, 1960, the petitioner's staff privileges at that hospital were suspended for a period of three months. It is apparent from the record that sometime after the expiration of the suspension period Doctor Bronaugh made application for reinstatement as a member of the staff. Staff membership is granted on an annual basis from July 1 to June 30. The record does not reveal the exact date of his application for reinstatement as a staff member but on November 19, 1963, the Board of Trustees of said hospital passed a resolution denying the petitioner staff membership, stating therein that 'there has been presented to the Board of Trustees at this meeting credible information that the privileges of the said Wayne Bronaugh, M.D., were revoked by the St. Joseph's Hospital, Parkersburg, West Virginia, for good and sufficient cause and reason, * * * that the application for membership of the said Wayne Bronaugh, M.D., on the staff of this hospital be deferred until such time that the said Wayne Bronaugh, M.D., is reinstated as at member in good standing on the staff of said St. Joseph's Hospital, or that the said Wayne Bronaugh, M.D., shows unto this Board of Trustees that said St. Joseph's Hospital is ready and willing to reinstate him as a member of its staff in good standing.'
The petitioner alleges that he repeatedly has attempted to be advised of the reasons for the denial of staff membership but that no reason has ever been given. He further alleges that he was unable to obtain a hearing on any charges upon which the Board may rely. The record reveals that the Board of Trustees forwarded a copy of the aforesaid resolution to the petitioner and that he was not afforded a hearing on the said Board's action.
It is the position of the defendants that the petitioner was cognizant of the reason for the revocation of his staff privileges at St. Joseph's Hospital and it was therefore not necessary to give any further reasons for their action or to grant him a hearing in relation thereto. In their demurrer the defendants say that the petitioner fails to allege grounds for mandamus; that mandamus is not the proper remedy in this case; and that the petitioner fails to allege that he has the necessary qualifications for staff membership or that he has complied with the requirements of the by-laws and rules and regulations of the said hospital in making his application.
Certain exhibits were filed by the parties hereto which, under the provisions of Rule II, 8, of the Rules of this Court, may become a part of the pleadings. By a properly executed stipulation the parties agree that the exhibits so filed are true copies of the originals thereof.
The first question to be considered is whether mandamus is the proper remedy for the relief sought. It has been authoritatively stated that the primary purpose or function of a writ of mandamus is to enforce an established right and to enforce a corresponding imperative duty created or imposed by law. Brumfield v. Board of Education of Logan County, 121 W.Va. 725, 6 S.E.2d 238; Koebert v. City of Clarksburg, 114 W.Va. 406, 171 S.W. 892; 55 C.J.S. Mandamus § 51. We must look to the facts and circumstances of this case to determine the right of the petitioner and the duty of the defendants.
The petitioner, Wayne Bronaugh, applied for membership on the staff of Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, a public hospital. That his application was proper and his qualifications satisfactory was readily admitted by the following language contained in a letter from Charles F. Whitaker, M.D., Chairman, Credentials Committee, to the president of the staff, a copy of which letter is an exhibit herein: 'This application has been reviewed by each member of the Credentials Committee, and we find it in order and take no exception as to the qualifications and data which has been submitted.' Numerous meetings were thereafter held by the hospital authorities in relation to this petitioner's application. Subsequently, on November 19, 1963, the Board of Trustees, by resolution, deferred the petitioner's application for membership on the staff until he be reinstated as a member of the staff of St. Joseph's Hospital.
The authorities are almost unanimous in holding that private hospitals, in the exercise of their discretion, have the right to exclude licensed physicians from the use of their facilities. Public hospitals, however, are not entitled to that immunity. A regularly licensed physician and surgeon has a right to practice in the public hospitals of the state so long as he stays within the law and conforms to all reasonable rules and regulations of the institutions. Henderson v. Knoxville, 157 Tenn. 477, 9 S.W.2d 697, 60 A.L.R. 652; Findlay v. Board of Supervisors, 72 Ariz. 58, 230 P.2d 526, 24 A.L.R.2d 841; Hamilton County Hospital v. Andrews, 227 Ind. 217, 84 N.E.2d 469, 85 N.E.2d 365; 26 Am.Jur.,...
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