Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. v. Kowal (Summary)

BYLAWS, REVOCATION OF PRIVILEGES, AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD

Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. v. Kowal, No. A11A2137 (Ga. Ct. App. Feb. 17, 2012)

A Georgia appeals court reversed a trial court’s order rescinding a hospital board’s decision to revoke a physician’s clinical privileges. The physician came under investigation after a 17-year-old patient suffered burns to his hand during a nasal surgery procedure. The hospital’s executive committee recommended that the physician’s clinical privileges be revoked. However, a hearing panel recommended only a 120-day suspension. Ultimately, the hospital’s board set aside the hearing panel’s recommendation and affirmed the executive committee’s original recommendation to revoke the physician’s clinical privileges.
Based on its interpretation of language in the hospital’s bylaws, the trial court entered an interlocutory injunction rescinding the board’s decision, finding that language in the bylaws bound the board to the hearing panel’s decision. The appeals court reversed this decision, finding that the bylaws gave the board final say on all credentialing decisions and that the hearing panel merely made a recommendation.