Stormont-Vail Healthcare, Inc. v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs for Shawnee Cnty.

• Decision Date: 11 December 2020
• Docket Number: No. 120,345,120,345
• Citation: 480 P.3d 184
• Parties: STORMONT-VAIL HEALTHCARE, INC. and Cotton O'Neil Clinic, Appellants, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kansas, and City of Topeka, Kansas, Appellees.
• Court: Kansas Court of Appeals

480 P.3d 184

STORMONT-VAIL HEALTHCARE, INC. and Cotton O'Neil Clinic, Appellants, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR SHAWNEE COUNTY, Kansas, and City of Topeka, Kansas, Appellees.

No. 120,345

Court of Appeals of Kansas.

Opinion filed December 11, 2020.

Jennifer Martin Smith, of Alderson, Alderson, Conklin, Crow & Slinkard, L.L.C., of Topeka, for appellants.

James M. Crowl, county counselor, and Joni C. Thadani, assistant county counselor, for appellee Board of Shawnee County Commissioners.

Shelly Starr, chief of litigation, city legal department, for appellee City of Topeka.

Before Standridge, P.J., Atcheson, J., and Burgess, S.J.

Atcheson, J.:

In a bench trial, the Shawnee County District Court found that the Kansas Highway Patrol exercised operational control over the coordinated efforts of three law enforcement agencies to apprehend a suspected felon and, therefore, was statutorily responsible for the cost of medical treatment provided to the suspect for injuries he suffered when he was taken into custody. The healthcare providers have appealed and argue the proper test is direct physical control of the suspect that would place the payment obligation on the City of Topeka, Shawnee County, or possibly both. The district court correctly applied K.S.A. 22-4612 to these circumstances involving the interlocking actions of multiple law enforcement agencies. We, therefore, affirm the district court's judgment imposing no liability on the City of Topeka and Shawnee County for the medical expenses. The Kansas Highway Patrol is not an active party to this litigation, so the healthcare providers cannot recover from a governmental entity under K.S.A. 22-4612.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

We sketch the salient facts without the adornment of irrelevant, if otherwise colorful, details. Jesse Dimmick, the suspected felon, had taken flight from Colorado, where he was wanted in connection with a murder, and stole a minivan in Geary County the morning of September 12, 2009, prompting a hot pursuit involving several Highway Patrol Troopers and at least one Geary County Sheriff's deputy. Dimmick headed east on I-70 and left the highway in rural Shawnee County, near the unincorporated community of Dover. By then, the Geary County Sheriff's personnel had yielded the chase to the Highway Patrol. Aware of the chase, several Topeka Police officers and Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies deployed along Dimmick's anticipated eastbound route.

At some point, Dimmick drove the minivan over stop-sticks, heavily damaging the tires. Dimmick abandoned the vehicle and entered a house in the Dover vicinity. After Dimmick holed-up in the house with the couple who lived there as his hostages, Highway Patrol Troopers, Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies, and City of Topeka police officers converged on the scene to form what has been described as a "response team."

Shortly after 9 a.m., a Highway Patrol trooper was the first to arrive at the minivan Dimmick had abandoned in front of the house. He was followed in short order by two Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies. They began looking for Dimmick in the immediate area. Highway Patrol Lieutenant Dan McCollum requested K-9 teams from both the Shawnee County Sheriff and the Topeka Police Department to assist in the search. The officers quickly determined that Dimmick had gone into the house.

In its memorandum decision, the district court identified five Highway Patrol troopers, seven Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies, and three Topeka police officers all of whom arrived at the house within minutes. In response to a question from the ranking Topeka police officer, Lt. McCollum stated he was in charge of the scene. He identified himself at least several times as the scene commander. A short time later, Lt. McCollum requested an ambulance be dispatched as a precaution, since Dimmick was considered armed and dangerous and had two hostages. Members of a Topeka Police Department unit trained in handling hostage situations and extractions of armed suspects from buildings came to the scene.

Kansas Highway Patrol Major Mark Goodloe arrived and set up a "command post" at a nearby church. Shortly afterward, at the Highway Patrol's request, the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department sent a SWAT team, similar to the Topeka Police Department unit, to the house. Major Goodloe then met with supervisors from both the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department and the Topeka Police Department to brief them on the operation. Ranking members of those departments also coordinated their intervention teams and other personnel.

An exhausted Dimmick apparently dozed off about 11 a.m., and the couple escaped from the house. They informed a Topeka Police detective that Dimmick had a knife and had fallen asleep in one of the bedrooms.

About 10 minutes later, Major Goodloe authorized an immediate entry of the house to capture Dimmick. He was concerned that Dimmick might find a shotgun the couple had stored in the house. Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies and Topeka Police Department officers conferred on a coordinated tactical plan to implement the directive. Members of the composite response team then went in and took Dimmick into custody.

As Dimmick was lying prone in a hallway adjacent to one of the bedrooms, a Shawnee County Sheriff's deputy prepared to handcuff him. A sergeant with the Topeka Police Department had a rifle trained on Dimmick. The sergeant perceived Dimmick to be moving as if to avoid being handcuffed, so he stepped on Dimmick's right arm and ordered him to stop. As the sergeant did so, his rifle accidently discharged. The shot struck Dimmick in the back. The sergeant then immediately requested medical assistance—the ambulance on standby responded within a minute or two. The ambulance crew, accompanied by a Shawnee County Sheriff's deputy, transported Dimmick to Stormont-Vail Hospital, where he had surgery and was treated through September 29.

After Dimmick's capture, Major Goodloe directed all of the law enforcement officers to report to a nearby fire station to document their presence and the times of their arrival. Agents with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation assumed control of the investigation going forward, including possible criminal charges against Dimmick and the precise circumstances surrounding his injury. Several Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies assisted in photographing the scene and otherwise documenting physical evidence. By 3:30 p.m., only KBI agents and Highway Patrol troopers remained at the scene. Lt. McCollum stayed until just after 5 p.m. and was the last officer to leave after the disabled minivan had been towed.

A KBI agent, a Highway Patrol trooper, and at least a couple of Shawnee County Sheriff's deputies initially were at the hospital and remained there while Dimmick underwent surgery. The KBI agent took custody of relevant physical evidence, such as Dimmick's clothing. At the hospital, Dimmick was physically restrained and under guard throughout his stay. He was charged with three serious felonies and several misdemeanors in Shawnee County District Court and was convicted of some of the felonies and misdemeanors in 2010.

Plaintiffs Stormont-Vail Healthcare, Inc. and Cotton-O'Neil Clinic filed this action in the district court in 2012 against the City of Topeka and Shawnee County to recover the cost of the medical care they provided to Dimmick. Throughout this case, the plaintiffs have been united in interest and have shared legal representation; we, therefore, have no need to distinguish between them and refer to them jointly as Stormont-Vail. They have sought just over $41,700 for the medical care and treatment between September 12 and September 28.[*]

[*]Stormont-Vail also sued for payment of about $844 for follow-up care provided Dimmick in late October and late November 2009 while he was being held in the Shawnee County jail awaiting trial on the criminal charges. Shawnee County has conceded liability for that amount, and the district court entered judgment accordingly for Stormont-Vail. Given its concession, Shawnee County has not cross-appealed that ruling.

Before filing this action, Stormont-Vail submitted written requests and more formal administrative demands for payment to the State, Shawnee County, and the City of Topeka. In the materials seeking payment from the State, Stormont-Vail asserted the State was responsible under K.S.A. 22-4612 based on the Highway Patrol's actions in apprehending Dimmick. We attach no direct legal significance to those demands in deciding this appeal. They do not in some fashion preclude Stormont-Vail's arguments that the district court erred in finding the Highway Patrol responsible.

Stormont-Vail, Shawnee County, and the City of Topeka all filed motions for summary judgment and submitted a stipulation of facts to the district court. The district court entered summary judgment for Stormont-Vail against Shawnee County. The County appealed. We reversed and remanded that decision in 2016 because the undisputed facts were insufficient to support summary judgment against Shawnee County and the district court impermissibly drew inferences to reach that result. Stormont-Vail Healthcare v. Board of Shawnee County Comm'rs (Stormont-Vail I ), No. 112,811, 2016 WL 2772859, at *1 (Kan. App. 2016) (unpublished opinion).

We return to that decision in our discussion of the governing law.

After the remand, Stormont-Vail filed an amended petition adding the Highway Patrol as a defendant. The district court entered summary judgment for the Highway Patrol on a statute of limitations defense. Stormont-Vail has not appealed that ruling, so the Highway Patrol is no longer a party and has not participated in this appeal. The parties compiled a written record they provided to the district court with a request for a bench trial and judgment based on those materials. The record consists of stipulations to many facts, contemporaneous reports law...