Pagarigan v. Libby Care Center, Inc.

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

Libby Care Center, Inc., and Longwood Management Corporation are defendants in an action for personal injuries brought by plaintiffs Teri, Mary and John Pagarigan as successors in interest to their deceased mother, Johnnie Pagarigan, and for wrongful death brought in their own right. Defendants appeal from a trial court order denying their petition to compel arbitration of plaintiffs’ claims. We affirm.

[300]

Facts and Proceedings Below

Johnnie Pagarigan was admitted in a comatose state to Magnolia Gardens Convalescent Hospital (Magnolia Gardens), a skilled nursing facility. She remained there for nearly a year. Plaintiffs allege that while Ms. Pagarigan was under the care and treatment of Magnolia Gardens she developed a severe pressure sore on her lower back measuring approximately five by eight inches; she lost weight and became malnourished and dehydrated. In addition, Ms. Pagarigan developed an infection at the site where a gastric tube had been surgically implanted in her abdomen. The infection abscessed and her abdomen became protuberant and discolored. Ultimately Ms. Pagarigan was transferred to a hospital where surgeons treated the abscess. The infection was by then too far advanced and her condition too debilitated to be treated successfully. Ms. Pagarigan was sent home in a pre-morbid condition for care in a hospice-like setting and she soon died.

Plaintiffs brought an action as Ms. Pagarigan’s successors in interest against Libby and Longwood, alleging that at the time of Ms. Pagarigan’s injuries defendants were the operators of Magnolia Gardens and they are liable to her for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, elder abuse and fraud. The complaint also alleges a cause of action on plaintiffs’ own behalf for wrongful death.

Defendants filed a petition to compel arbitration based on two arbitration agreements signed by plaintiffs Teri and Mary Pagarigan approximately a week after their mother was admitted to Magnolia Gardens. Both agreements identify Johnnie Pagarigan as “resident” and Magnolia Gardens as “facility.” One agreement states “any dispute between resident and facility, including actions for any injury or death arising from facility’s negligence, medical malpractice, intentional tort, and/or statutory causes of action (including all Welfare and Institutions Code sections) will be determined by submission to arbitration as provided by California law, and not by lawsuit or resort to court process . . . .” The other agreement is similarly worded except it is specifically applicable “as to medical malpractice, as to whether any medical services rendered . . . were unnecessary or unauthorized or were improperly, negligently or incompetently rendered . . . .”