An appeals court Wednesday said plaintiffs can pursue a medical-negligence case against a Pensacola hospital in a dispute involving emergency-room care provided to a woman who suffered brain damage.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a lower-court decision in favor of Baptist Hospital, Inc. Patient Latisha Gradia was transferred to Baptist’s emergency room in 2021 after going into cardiac arrest and initially being taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Medical Center, according to the ruling.
Gradia was comatose, and the lawsuit alleges that a physician at the Baptist emergency room did not properly treat her, resulting in permanent brain damage.
Baptist contracted with Pensacola Emergency Physicians, LLC to operate the emergency room and argued that the hospital could not be held liable for Gradia’s injuries.
A circuit judge agreed and granted summary judgment for the hospital, leading to Gradia’s attorneys taking the issue to the Tallahassee-based appeals court. In a seven-page ruling Wednesday, the appeals court pointed to parts of an agreement between Baptist and Pensacola Emergency Physicians that “repeatedly sets forth the hospital’s ultimate control over the emergency department,” including giving the hospital decision-making power on hiring physicians.
The ruling, written by Judge Timothy Osterhaus and joined by Chief Judge Lori Rowe and Judge Joseph Lewis, concluded that a “genuine dispute remains about the hospital’s supervision and right of control over the emergency treating physician, which entitles appellants (the plaintiffs) to a trial.”
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