Wentworth-Douglass Hosp. v. New Hampshire Dept. of Health and Welfare, Div. of Welfare

• Decision Date: 30 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-337,WENTWORTH-DOUGLASS,87-337
• Citation: 553 A.2d 311,131 N.H. 364
• Parties: , Medicare & Medicaid Guide P 37,651 HOSPITAL v. NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, DIVISION OF WELFARE.
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

Page 311

553 A.2d 311

131 N.H. 364, Medicare & Medicaid Guide P 37,651

WENTWORTH-DOUGLASS HOSPITAL v. NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, DIVISION OF WELFARE.

No. 87-337.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Dec. 30, 1988.

Fisher, Willoughby, Clancy, Woodman & Durand, Dover (Karl O. Durand on the brief, and orally), for plaintiff.

Stephen E. Merrill, Atty. Gen. (David S. Peck, Asst. Atty. Gen., on the brief, and orally), for State.

THAYER, Justice.

The plaintiff, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, appeals from an order of the Superior Court (Dickson, J.) dismissing its petition for writ of certiorari for lack of timely filing. We affirm.

The relevant facts of this case are not in dispute. On August 17, 1984, Benjamin Long shot himself in the head while fleeing from the New Hampshire State Police. Due to the nature of his injuries, Mr. Long was eventually transferred to the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, where he died on November 27, 1984, owing the plaintiff medical bills in the sum of $45,498.08.

An application for medical assistance made on behalf of Mr. Long was denied by the New Hampshire Division of Welfare, and the plaintiff appealed to the office of fair hearings. Following a hearing held on May 14, 1985, the fair hearings officer upheld the decision denying the requested medical assistance.

On July 18, 1985, the plaintiff filed a petition for writ of certiorari with this court seeking review of the fair hearings officer's decision. On October 9, 1985, we denied the petition "without prejudice to petitioner's right to petition the superior court." Petition of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, No. 85-338 (October 9, 1985). The plaintiff then filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the superior court on December 12, 1985, more than sixty days after this court's denial of the plaintiff's original petition.

The plaintiff offered the following explanation for its delay in filing. Between the date of our order and the date of the plaintiff's subsequent petition to the superior court, the plaintiff learned that the State Police, at the time of Long's arrest, had confiscated a large amount of cash, personal property, and contraband, estimated to be worth as much as $110,000. Plaintiff's counsel also learned that a hearing to address claims against this property had been scheduled in Concord District Court for September 9, 1985. Judging that the value of the confiscated property might be adequate to cover the cost of Long's debt, the plaintiff intervened in the district court proceeding. The September hearing was continued to November 12, 1985, and on November 11 was again continued for three months.

When the plaintiff then filed its December 12 petition, the State moved to dismiss it on the ground that it was untimely filed. Following oral argument, the Superior Court (Dickson, J.) granted the State's motion and subsequently denied the plaintiff's motion to reconsider.

The trial court found that the plaintiff's delay of over sixty days in filing its petition with the superior court barred review of that petition as untimely filed. Relying on our holding in Chauffeurs Local Union No. 633 v. Silver Brothers, Inc., 122 N.H. 1035, 453 A.2d 1292 (1982), the trial court in its order stated that "any petition for review of a decision of a state administrative body must be filed within 30 days of that order ... unless the body's statutory review procedure provides otherwise," and that the court "no longer has discretion to consider the circumstances ... and excuse [the delay.]" (Emphasis in original.) The court noted, however, the absence of circumstances excusing the plaintiff's delay.

The sole means of obtaining judicial review of a fair hearings decision of the New Hampshire Division of Welfare is by a petition for writ of certiorari. See Petition of Pelletier, 125 N.H. 565, 568, 484 A.2d 1119, 1121 (1984). We have held that the appropriate period for filing a petition for writ of certiorari is to be determined by the appeal period set forth in a substantively...