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Wrenn v. Maria Parham Hospital12/7/1999
Filed: 7 December 1999
Appeal by plaintiff from judgment entered 16 October 1998 by Judge Henry W. Hight, Jr., in Durham County Superior Court. Heard in the court of Appeals 23 September 1999.
On 4 September 1989, Carolyn Wrenn took her husband, George T. Wrenn (plaintiff), to the emergency room of Maria Parham Hospital (the hospital), located in Vance County. Maria Parham Hospital, Inc. (defendant), a non-profit corporation, owned and operated the hospital. Dr. Jesse Byrd (Dr. Byrd), an emergency room physician, examined and treated plaintiff. Coastal Emergency Services, Inc. (Coastal), provided Dr. Byrd and other emergency room physicians to the hospital pursuant to a contract between Coastal and defendant. A sign posted outside the emergency room at the time plaintiff was admitted stated, "the emergency physician on duty not an employee or agent of Maria Parham." Dr. Byrd diagnosed plaintiff's condition as gastroenteritis and released him. Later that same evening, plaintiff's condition worsened and he went into septic shock; his wife brought him back to the emergency room of the hospital. Plaintiff was flown to Duke University Hospital due to the seriousness of his condition. Ultimately, plaintiff lost the distal half of each of his feet, and one of his fingers.
On 8 January 1992, plaintiff and his wife, Carolyn (collectively, the Wrenns), filed an action against defendant, Dr. Byrd, and against Coastal. The Wrenns contended, as they have done throughout this litigation, that Dr. Byrd misdiagnosed plaintiff husband's condition and released him from the Maria Parham emergency room in an unstable condition. The Wrenns contended that the defendant was liable under theories of respondeat superior (a master's vicarious liability for the acts of a servant), nursing negligence, and corporate negligence. Defendant moved for summary judgment, but the trial court denied the motion on 29 October 1993. The Wrenns amended their complaint on 5 April 1994 to allege only a claim for vicarious liability against defendant, and to allege negligence claims against Dr. Byrd and Coastal. On 7 June 1994, the Wrenns voluntarily dismissed without prejudice "all claims" against defendant Maria Parham Hospital, Inc., but reserved their claims against the other defendants. On 14 October 1994, the trial court granted summary judgment against Carolyn Wrenn on her claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress and she appealed to this Court. Plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed without prejudice his claims against Coastal and Dr. Byrd. This Court reversed the entry of summary judgment on Carolyn Wrenn's claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress and remanded her case for trial. Wrenn v. Byrd, 120 N.C. App. 761, 464 S.E.2d 89 (1995), disc. review denied, 342 N.C. 666, 467 S.E.2d 738 (1996).
On 6 June 1995, plaintiff then refiled his complaint against the defendant, Dr. Byrd, and Coastal. Plaintiff alleged that Dr. Byrd was negligent, and that defendant was liable on theories of vicarious liability, nursing negligence and corporate negligence. Plaintiff's action, and that of his wife, were again set for trial in June 1997. Prior to that trial, however, Carolyn Wrenn dismissed her claim against the Hospital. The Wrenns settled their claim against Coastal pursuant to a settlement agreement. The settlement agreement with Coastal contained the following provisions:
2. Coastal shall pay to George T. Wrenn the sum of Eighty Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($80,000.00) and to Carolyn M. Wrenn the sum of Seventy Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($70,000.00). Within two (2) working days of the receipt of the final payment, to be paid as follows: (1) $70,000.00 on or before April 25,
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