Houston Hospitals, Inc. v. Pamela Felder ( 2017 )

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ April 13, 2017 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A17A0576. HOUSTON HOSPITALS, INC. et al. v. BOWEN et al. A17A0778. HOUSTON HOSPITALS, INC. et al. v. FELDER et al. For the following reasons, both of the captioned cases are REMANDED to the trial court for preparation and transmission of the complete trial court record necessary for consideration of these appeals. The captioned cases are related interlocutory appeals in which Houston Hospitals, Inc. and Houston Healthcare Systems, Inc. d/b/a Perry Hospital (the Hospital) appeal from the denial of their motions for summary judgment. By order of this Court, both cases were assigned to the same division as companion cases. Both cases arise from the same or similar alleged wrongful or negligent medical services rendered by a Hospital employee (a radiology technician) who allegedly forged reports on mammograms provided for numerous Hospital patients. In Case No. A17A0576 (docketed on November 3, 2016), the Hospital appeals from the denial of fourteen motions for summary judgment filed in fourteen separate suits, each suit brought by a Hospital patient who received a forged mammogram report. The Appellees in Case No. A17A0576 are fourteen Hospital patients who sued the Hospital – Daisy Bowen, Georgia Carter, Etherene Fendley, Rosa Harris, Dorothy Hullett, Evelyn Hunt, Mary Jackson, Anne Metz, Vivian Pennington, Annie Ross, Jennifer Scott, Diana Simpson, Nancy Simpson, and Ann Tippy. In Case No. A17A0778 (docketed on December 5, 2016), the Hospital appeals from the denial of three motions for summary judgment filed in three separate suits, each suit brought by a Hospital patient who received a forged mammogram report. The Appellees in Case No. A17A0778 are three Hospital patients who sued the Hospital – Pamela Felder (as next of kin and representative of the estate of Velma Riley), Michelle Soley, and Patricia Orens Bowers. The same appellate counsel represents the Hospital in both of the captioned cases. The Hospital’s counsel filed a notice of appeal in Case No. A17A0576 listing all fourteen pending suits, and a notice of appeal in Case No. A17A0778 listing all three pending suits. Both notices of appeal directed the clerk of the trial court to omit nothing from the trial court record transmitted on appeal. However, the appellate records transmitted to this Court showed the following: (1) In Case No. A17A0576 the trial court record was transmitted in only one of the 14 suits on appeal – the Bowen suit; and (2) In Case No. A17A0778 the trial court record in only one of the three suits was transmitted to this Court – the Felder suit. The Hospital’s counsel represented to this Court by brief on December 21, 2016 that the Clerk of the trial court (the Bibb County Superior Court) is preparing records in the other suits. Since that time, this Court has received a supplemental record in Case No. A17A0778 transmitting the trial court record in the Soley suit. The trial court record in thirteen suits in Case No. A17A0576 and one suit in Case No. A17A0778 have still not been transmitted to this Court. Because it appears that portions of the trial court record necessary for consideration of these appeals have not been prepared or transmitted to this Court, these cases were prematurely transmitted and docketed in this Court. Under the Georgia Constitution, this Court is required to “dispose of every case at the term for which it is entered on the court’s docket for hearing or at the next term.” Ga. Const. of 1983 Art. VI, Sec. IX, Par. II. Records must be timely prepared and transmitted to enable this Court to meet its constitutional deadline. Accordingly, it is ordered that Case Nos. A17A0576 and A17A0778 be REMANDED to the trial court for preparation of the necessary record in all of the separate suits from which appeal was taken. Upon preparation of the necessary record, the Clerk of the Bibb County Superior Court shall transmit the entire record in both appeals for re-docketing. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/13/2017 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written. , Clerk.