OHCA Weighs in on Important Legal Issue
OHCA filed a memorandum as a friend of the court in a legal case that has the potential to be very harmful to SNFs, assisted living providers, and ICFs/IID. OHCA asked the Ohio Supreme Court to review a lower court decision that transferring a patient using a mechanical lift does not constitute care. As a result, a lawsuit over injuries a patient sustained during a transfer was not considered a “medical claim” that is subject to a shorter statute of limitations and to the damage caps enacted in Ohio tort reform legislation several years ago. OHCA successfully advocated for the language in the tort reform legislation that specifically designates claims against SNFs, ALs, and ICFs as medical claims, but the lower court decision in this case essentially eliminates those protections. OHCA’s Board of Directors asked legal counsel, Rolf Goffman Martin Lang, to prepare and file the memorandum explaining why the Supreme Court should accept the case and reverse the decision. The memorandum points out, among other things, that if transferring a patient is not care, then most other tasks performed in long-term care facilities also would not be care and would not receive the protection of the tort reform statutes as intended by the legislature.