McNair v. Beck

553 P.3d 771

2024 WY 85

Anne G. MCNAIR, Appellant (Plaintiff),

v.Joshua D. BECK, M.D., an individual; Orthopaedics of Jackson Hole, P.C., d/b/a Teton Orthopaedics, a Wyoming profit corporation; and North Lincoln County Hospital District, d/b/a Star Valley Health, a governmental entity, Appellees (Defendants).

S-23-0279

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

August 8, 2024

Appeal from the District Court of Lincoln County, The Honorable Joseph B. Bluemel, Judge

Representing Appellant: Jared S. Crecelius and Matthew A. Walker, Olsen Legal Group, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Walker.

Representing Joshua D. Beck, M.D. and Orthopaedics of Jackson Hole, P.C., d/b/a Teton Orthopaedics: Scott E. Ortiz and Zara S. Mason, Williams, Porter, Day & Neville, P.C., Casper, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Mason.

Representing North Lincoln County Hospital District, d/b/a Star Valley Health: Andrew F. Sears and Meggan J. Hathaway, Sundahl, Powers, Kapp & Martin, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Sears.

Before FOX, CJ., and BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, FENN, and JAROSH, JJ.

GRAY, Justice.

[¶1] Anne G. McNair suffered a perforated esophagus and an infection following cervical fusion surgery at North Lincoln County Hospital District, d/b/a Star Valley Health (Star Valley). Dr. Joshua D. Beck of Orthopaedics of Jackson Hole, P.C., d/b/a Teton Orthopaedics (Teton) was the operating physician. After submitting a notice of claim to Star Valley under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act (WGCA), Ms. McNair filed a complaint against Dr. Beck, Teton, and Star Valley (collectively Defendants) alleging medical malpractice, negligence, negligent failure to train and supervise, and vicarious liability. The district court granted the Defendants’ motions to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds and denied Ms. McNair’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint because it concluded amendment of the complaint would be futile. We reverse and remand.

ISSUES

[¶2] Ms. McNair raises three issues which we restate as two:

1. Did the district court err by granting the Defendants’ motions to dismiss based on its determination that the notice of claim and complaint were untimely under the applicable statutes of limitations?

2. Did the district court abuse its discretion by denying Ms. McNair’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint based on its conclusion that any amendment would be futile?

FACTS

A. Factual Background

[¶3] Because the district court dismissed this case under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6), we recite the facts as they are alleged in Ms. McNair’s complaint. Woodie v. Whitesell., 2019 WY 115, ¶ 22, 451 P.3d 1152, 1158 (Wyo. 2019).

[¶4] In 2017, Ms. McNair began treatment for cervical pain and bilateral hand weakness with Dr. Beck, an orthopedic surgeon employed by Teton. Dr. Beck recommended she undergo an elective anterior cervical discectomy and fusion from C6-C7. On December 30, 2020, Dr. Beck performed the surgery at Star Valley. During the surgery, he removed the C6-C7 disc and replaced it with hardware. In early 2021, Ms. McNair reported to Teton with minor complaints, including the protrusion of a metal wire from her neck. Teton staff removed the wire with nail clippers and instructed her to do the same if it happened again.

[¶5] On April 12, 2021, Ms. McNair began having difficulties swallowing and extreme pain in her left anterior neck. The next day, she went to the local urgent care clinic. Her symptoms worsened so her urgent care providers transferred her to the Lander, Wyoming emergency department on April 14, 2021. There, the doctors found a large abscess with air bubbles in her lower neck and a displaced esophagus. Ms. McNair was transferred by air ambulance to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, Wyoming, where doctors discovered her neck hardware "bathed in pus" and a perforation of her esophagus. Ms. McNair was transported via air ambulance to the University of Colorado Health in Colorado where surgeons removed the hardware installed by Dr. Beck, repaired her perforated esophagus, and performed a posterior stabilization with new hardware. Ms. McNair spent a total of twenty-one days in the Colorado hospital.

B. Procedural Background

[¶6] On April 4, 2023, Ms. McNair submitted a notice of claim under the WGCA to Star Valley and six days later, on April 10, 2023, she filed a complaint against the Defendants. Her complaint alleged the hardware Dr. Beck installed in her neck was too large and perforated her esophagus, and the bacteria found in her surgical wounds was caused by Star Valley’s failure to properly sanitize the operating room. She also alleged Dr. Beck and Teton minimized and ignored her post-operative complaints and failed to train their employees on proper post-operative care. She asserted claims of medical malpractice and negligent training and supervision against Dr. Beck and claimed Teton and Star Valley were vicariously liable for his negligence. She asserted a direct negligence claim against Star Valley and a negligent training and supervision claim against Teton.

[¶7] In lieu of an answer, Dr. Beck and Teton filed a motion to dismiss under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6), arguing Ms. McNair failed to file her complaint within the two-year statute of limitations applicable to medical malpractice actions. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-3-107(a). Recognizing the continuous treatment rule applicable to medical malpractice actions in Wyoming, they argued the cessation of treatment started the statutory period for filing suit. They asserted Dr. Beck operated on Ms. McNair on December 30, 2020, and continued to treat her until January 2021. As a result, the two-year statute of limitations began running in January 2021, giving Ms. McNair until January 2023 to file her complaint. She filed her complaint in April 2023.

[¶8] Star Valley filed a motion to dismiss under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) or in the alternative a motion for summary judgment under W.R.C.P. 56. With respect to Ms. McNair’s claim that it failed to sterilize the operating room, Star Valley asserted that under the continuous treatment rule, Ms. McNair had two years from the date she was discharged from Star Valley on December 31, 2020, to file her notice of claim and complaint and her April 2023 filings were untimely. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-3-107(a) (complaint) and 1-39-113(a) (notice of claim). With respect to Ms. McNair’s claim seeking to hold it vicariously liable for Dr. Beck’s negligence, Star Valley denied it employed Dr. Beck and argued the claim was untimely for the same reasons her complaint against Dr. Beck was untimely.

[¶9] In response to the Defendants’ motions, Ms. McNair filed a motion for leave to file an amended complaint to clarify when Dr. Beck’s treatment of her neck condition ceased. Her proposed amended complaint mirrored her original complaint but added additional allegations: Dr. Beck ordered Ms. McNair to engage in physical therapy after her surgery and referred her to a physical therapist; Ms. McNair attended physical therapy until her emergency treatment; the therapist listed Dr. Beck as the overseeing physician; the therapist communicated with Dr. Beck regarding Ms. McNair’s treatment; and the therapist, after learning of Ms. McNair’s emergency treatment, issued a Notice of Discharge on May 11, 2021, "terminating the treatment with the physical therapist and terminating Dr. Beck’s treatment of [Ms. McNair’s] illness."

[¶10] Relying on these allegations and the continuous treatment rule, Ms. McNair argued dismissal of her claims against Dr. Beck and Teton was improper because her April 10, 2023 complaint was timely filed within two years of her May 11, 2021 discharge from the physical therapy ordered by Dr. Beck. With respect to Star Valley, Ms. McNair acknowledged that if the evidence showed Star Valley did not have a contractual relationship with Dr. Beck to provide follow-up treatment, then "the latest date to file [her notice of] claim [and complaint] would be [two years from] the date the treatment was terminated—the date [she] was discharged from [Star Valley]" following her surgery. She maintained, however, that Dr. Beck was currently employed by Star Valley and, at the time of her surgery, he and Star Valley may have had some type of contractual relationship requiring Star Valley to continue to treat Ms. McNair until Dr. Beck ceased treating her on May 11, 2021. She argued, under these facts, her April 2023 filings were timely.

[¶11] The district court declined to convert Star Valley’s motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment. It granted the Defendants’ motions to dismiss. It reasoned the continuous treatment rule did not apply because Ms. McNair’s alleged injury did not result from a series of treatments but rather from a single act of negligence—the surgery on December 30, 2020. Under §§ 1-3-107(a) and 1-39-113(a), the court concluded the statutes of limitations for all Defendants began December 31, 2020, the date Ms. McNair was discharged from Star Valley following the surgery, and she had two years from that date to file her notice of claim and complaint. Consequently, her April 2023 filings were untimely. It also denied Ms. McNair’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint, finding any amendment would be futile. It ruled the continuous treatment rule did not apply and did not extend the limitations period to May 11, 2021, the date she was discharged from physical therapy. Ms. McNair timely appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[1–3] [¶12] The district court dismissed Ms. McNair’s complaint under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) for "fail[ure] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."

When reviewing a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, "[w]e conduct a de novo review of the materials that were before the district court." Matter of Est. of Britain, 2018 WY 101, ¶ 11, 425 P.3d 978, 981 (Wyo. 2018) (citing Bush Land. Dev. Co. v. Crook Cnty. Weed. & Pest Control Disk, 2017 WY 12, ¶ 7, 388 P.3d 536, 539 (Wyo. 2017)) (other citations omitted). " ‘[W]e accept the facts stated in

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