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Florida Convalescent Centers v. Somberg2/6/2003
We have for review the decision in Somberg v. Florida Convalescent Centers, Inc., 779 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), in which the Third District Court of Appeal certified conflict with the decision in First Healthcare Corp. v. Hamilton, 740 So. 2d 1189 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, ยง 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We approve the decision in Somberg, which held that the damages available to a personal representative bringing a cause of action under section 400.023(1), Florida Statutes (1997), are not limited by the damages provided for in Florida's Wrongful Death Act.
FACTS
Respondent, Reed Somberg, is the personal representative for the estate of Irving Ellis. Somberg, 779 So. 2d at 668. In 1998, Ellis was admitted to a nursing home that was run by the petitioner, Florida Convalescent Centers, Inc. Id. According to Somberg's allegations in the trial court, Ellis contracted an infection, the nursing home failed to treat the infection, and Ellis died from complications a short time later. See id. Respondent filed an action against the nursing home in a suit that included a claim for wrongful death and a claim for violating the "right to receive adequate and appropriate health care" set out in chapter 400 of the Florida Statutes (1997), Florida's Nursing Home Act. See 779 So. 2d at 668.
Subsequently, respondent dropped the wrongful death claim and pursued only the chapter 400 claim. See id. The nursing home moved for summary judgment alleging "that chapter 400 damages for pain and suffering were eliminated in this case by the Wrongful Death Act." Id. Somberg opposed this motion, asserting that section 400.023, Florida Statutes, specifically authorizes the personal representative of a deceased patient to bring suit where the cause of the patient's death resulted from a violation of the patient's statutory rights. See id. The trial court entered a partial summary judgment in the nursing home's favor.
On appeal, the Third District reversed the summary judgment while acknowledging that "the issue before us is a substantial one on which the districts are divided." Id. The Third District illustrated the division between the districts by comparing the holding in First Healthcare Corp. v. Hamilton, 740 So. 2d 1189, 1196 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (" he elements of damages recoverable by the personal representative of a deceased nursing home resident whose death results from deprivation of the deceased's rights are limited to those which a personal representative is specifically authorized to recover under the Wrongful Death Act."), with the holding in Beverly Enterprises-Florida, Inc. v. Spilman, 661 So. 2d 867, 869 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995) ("Both the plain language of the statute and the transcripts of the committee hearings indicate that the legislature did not intend for damages under section 400.023 to be limited by the Wrongful Death Act where the nursing home's infringement or deprivation of the patient's rights resulted in the patient's death."). In its holding, the Third District adopted the reasoning of the Fifth District's opinion in Spilman, while certifying conflict with the Fourth District's opinion in Hamilton.
ANALYSIS
The issue raised in this case is whether a personal representative for a deceased nursing home patient who brings a cause of action for a violation of the patient's statutory rights pursuant to section 400.023, Florida Statutes (1997), is limited to the damages provided for in the Wrongful Death Act when it is claimed that the patient's death resulted from a deprivation or infringement of the patient's statutory rights set out in chapter 400. Upon review of the conflicting decisions and the relevant statutes, we ho
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