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Wheaton v. Suwana1/11/2005
Larry and Elizabeth Wheaton initiated this lawsuit against M. Stevens Suwana, M.D., F.A.C.S., for alleged medical malpractice and resulting loss of consortium. The suit was dismissed as untimely because Dr. Suwana was an employee of Union County Hospital District at the time of the medical actions at issue and that hospital district was a local public entity subject to the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Act) (745 ILCS 10/1-101 et seq. (West 1998)) and its one-year statute of limitations. Larry and Elizabeth Wheaton appealed from the trial court's October 2, 2002, order by which the trial court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss with prejudice. We affirmed in an opinion. Wheaton v. Suwana, 341 Ill. App. 3d 929, 793 N.E.2d 978 (2003). In a supervisory order, the Illinois Supreme Court directed us to vacate this judgment and to consider whether the amended section 8-101 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101 (West Supp. 2003)) applied to this case. Wheaton v. Suwana, 206 Ill. 2d 646, 799 N.E.2d 681 (2003).
I. FACTS
Upon the referral of his general practitioner, Larry Wheaton saw Dr. Suwana for the surgical removal of an abscess. Surgery was performed in the doctor's office on October 15, 1999. Larry Wheaton presented himself at a Cape Girardeau, Missouri, hospital's emergency room on October 18, 1999, with an infection. From this emergency room visit, he was admitted to the hospital, underwent "numerous" surgeries, and suffered a loss of a scrotum, a testicle, and some perineal skin.
At the time of the alleged malpractice, Dr. Suwana's office was located in an annex of the Union County Hospital. Dr. Suwana was a salaried employee of the hospital, receiving medical and other employment benefits. Nothing in the manner in which his office was decorated, or in the manner in which Dr. Suwana and his staff conducted themselves, revealed this employment relationship. Dr. Suwana's prescription pad did not reveal this relationship. Medical bills sent to Larry Wheaton were apparently sent by the hospital but listed Dr. Suwana as the provider.
The medical malpractice suit was filed on March 23, 2001, more than one year following the alleged acts of medical malpractice.
Larry and Elizabeth Wheaton contended that Dr. Suwana fraudulently concealed his relationship. The Wheatons proposed no motivation for this alleged fraud. They argued that Dr. Suwana was an independent contractor, based upon the manner and method by which he conducted his practice and exercised his medical decisions, and that we should overlook the contractual relationship.
Dr. Suwana acknowledged in his deposition that his medical discretionary decisions were not guided by Union County Hospital. In her deposition, the hospital administrator, Carol Goodman, agreed with Dr. Suwana's assessment of the hospital's level of control over his medical judgment and his medical actions or inactions.
In replying to the Wheatons' complaint, Dr. Suwana filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 1998)). On September 25, 2001, the trial court denied Dr. Suwana's motion to dismiss, finding that at that stage of the litigation process there was a question of fact about whether the alleged medical malpractice arose out of Dr. Suwana's claimed employment relationship with Union County Hospital.
Discovery on this issue was conducted. On January 18, 2002, Dr. Suwana filed his motion asking the trial court to reconsider its earlier denial of his motion to dismiss. In this motion, he outlined the evidence that had been discovered. Union County Hospital District is a "local public entity
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