Murby, et al. v. Children’s Hospital Corporation (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-166-16)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT. 1684CV01213-BLS2 ____________________ GUSTAVE H. MURBY, and Others1 v. CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CORPORATION, doing business as Boston Children’s Hospital, and Others2 ____________________ MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ALLOWING FURTHER MOTION BY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CORPORATION TO DISMISS THIS ACTION Plaintiffs brought suit in an effort to stop Boston Children’s Hospital from erecting a new clinical building on the site of the Prouty Garden, which they and many others value as a quiet sanctuary for Hospital patients and their families. In their amended complaint Plaintiffs allege that the Hospital illegally began site preparation and other construction work required for its proposed Boston Children’s Clinical Building (the “BCCB”) without first obtaining approval from the Department of Public Health (“DPH”) under the determination of need (“DoN”) law, G.L. c. 111, §§ 25B-25G. Plaintiffs also allege that the Hospital’s DoN application for the BCCB project improperly excluded the costs of certain renovation projects that the Hospital has already started or completed at its main campus in the Longwood medical area of Boston, and of a planned expansion of the Hospital’s Waltham campus. The Court previously ordered that all claims against defendants Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., Turner Construction Company, and the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health be dismissed without prejudice because they are not proper or necessary parties. The Hospital now moves to dismiss the rest of the case on the grounds that it became moot when DPH approved the Hospital’s DoN application. The Court will ALLOW that motion, and dismiss this case without prejudice, because it agrees that the claims asserted in this action are now moot. It will also declare the rights of the 1 Anne C. Gamble, Walter J. Gamble, M.D., Stephen Gellis, M.D., Loring Conant, Jr., M.D., Louise Conant, Brian Greenberg, Peggy Greenberg, Karen d’Amato, Neil Dinkin, Christine Barensfeld, and John W. Hagerman. 2 Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., Turner Construction Company, and Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. – 2 – parties with respect to one of the legal issues raised in the amended complaint. The Court takes judicial notice of the two DPH letter decisions that are attached to the Hospital’s memorandum of law: the October 27, 2016, letter decision in which DPH approved the Hospital’s DoN application, and the June 3, 2016, letter decision in which DPH rejected claims that certain ongoing or now completed renovations at the Longwood campus were part of the BCCB project and thus required DoN approval.3 The amended complaint asserts three general categories of claims, all of which are now either moot, must be pursued as part of the c. 30A appeal from the final decision by DPH, or raise a pure question of law that can […]
Categories: News Tags: 1216616, Children's, Corporation, Hospital, Lawyers, Murby, Weekly
Roe No. 1, et al. v. Children’s Hospital Medical Center, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-164-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11533 ROBERT ROE No. 1 & others[1] vs. CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER & others.[2] Suffolk. April 8, 2014. – October 1, 2014. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Child Abuse. Negligence, Hospital, Employer, Duty to prevent harm. Practice, Civil, Complaint, Amendment of complaint, Dismissal. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 28, 2011. A motion to dismiss was heard by Merita A. Hopkins, J. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Mark F. Itzkowitz (Carmen L. Durso with him) for the plaintiffs. Gail M. Ryan (John P. Ryan with her) for Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: John J. Barter for Professional Liability Foundation, Ltd. Darrell L. Heckman, of Ohio, & Ninamary Buba Maginnis, of Kentucky, for National Center for Victims of Crime. J. Michael Conley, Jeffrey S. Beeler, Thomas R. Murphy, & Kimberly A. Alley for Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. CORDY, J. This case requires us to decide whether a Massachusetts hospital employer owes a legally cognizable duty of care to future patients of a doctor who has left the hospital’s employ and resumed practicing medicine in the employ of a different hospital in another State. We conclude that such a duty is not cognizable in the circumstances presented here, where the hospital does not have the type of special relationship either with its former employee, or with any of his prospective patients, that would create such a duty. Consequently, we affirm the judgment entered in the Superior Court dismissing the complaint for failing to state a claim on which relief may be granted. 1. Background. We recite the relevant facts as drawn from the plaintiffs’ complaint, which we assume to be true for the purposes of our review. Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977). The defendant, Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Children’s Hospital), is a fully licensed hospital located in Boston. In 1966 it hired Melvin Levine as a pediatric physician. Levine held that position until leaving Children’s Hospital’s employ in 1985.[3] On leaving Children’s Hospital, Levine relocated to North Carolina, where he obtained a license to practice medicine and became employed as a pediatrician at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine (UNC). Twenty-four years later, in 2009, amid […]
Franklin Park, Children’s Museum, Arboretum Free on Friday
Find out what's worth knowing in the South End today, Friday, August 2, 2013. South End Patch News
South End Weekends: Children’s Show at BCA, Artist Talk
South End Patch
Local Author Selling Children’s Book on Dogs in South End
When author and journalist Scott Fayner was trying to decide what his next project would be, he looked around him. And saw dogs. Lots of dogs. That’s because at the time, Fayner was working at a dog daycare facility. Talk about drawing inspiration from your daily life. Fayner said he grew up with dogs and knew a lot about dogs, so the idea just seemed natural to him. “I wanted to help children learn from a young age about breeds and their characteristics and energy levels, so when they grow up they’ll have a better knowledge about which ones to choose,” he said. “If you have a breed like a Jack Russel Terrier in an apartment when you work all day they will ruin your house, and they end up in pounds, so it was a great project to help try to prevent that.” His new book, written with co-author Katie Bazaz, is called the ABCs of DOGs, and takes children through all the different dog breeds from A-Z, with two dogs for each letter of the alphabet. On the last page is a place for children to imagine their own type of dog breed with the characteristics that they like the best. Fayner met his co-author Bazaz, through their job at the dog daycare center. Although Fayner had experience with writing, Bazaz did not, and neither had any experience with publishing. “Katie had never been a part of something like this, but and she was really great,” Fayner said. “I never could have done this without her.” Through his work on the book, Fayner said the most interesting thing he learned was more about smaller breeds of dogs. “I’ve always liked big dogs, so I looked at smaller breeds as one type, like they were all the same,” he said. “But they really are not and have all different personalities.” “I also learned it’s not easy to write a book,” he said. The book is currently on sale atSooki, a women’s clothing and boutique store owned by Fayner’s mother, Suzan Griffith. Fayner said besides Amazon.com, the store is the only place where you can find his book right now, and based on how passionate South End residents are about their dogs, he thinks it’s a good fit. “The South End community is passionate about their dogs and treating them properly,” he said. “It’s a good way for young people to get started loving dogs, and maybe they’ll want a career working with dogs one day.” And maybe it isn’t just for kids. “What’s funny is that a lot of adults read it and they’re like, ‘I learned so […]