Miss. S. Court Affirms Trial Court's Refusal to Enforce Arbitration Clause in Nursing Home Admissions Agreement
On Thursday the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the Adams County Circuit Court’s Order refusing to enforce an arbitration clause in a nursing home admissions agreement. Here is the Court’s opinion in Adams Community Care Center, LLC v. Reed. The trial judge was Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders.
There were two admissions agreements in the case that were signed by the resident’s adult sons. Neither son had power of attorney. In addition, the resident’s primary physician had not made a determination that the resident lacked capacity pursuant to the Mississippi Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. Therefore, neither son had authority to act as a health-care surrogate. The Court also found that an arbitration clause was not a health-care decision under the Act.
The Court rejected the nursing home’s apparent authority argument because there was no evidence that the resident indicated that her sons were her agents for making health-care decisions. Finally, the Court rejected the nursing home’s third-party beneficiary argument because there was not a valid contract.
Justice Lamar wrote the Court’s unanimous opinion. Justice Graves concurred in result only without a separate opinion. Skipper Samson of Gulfport represented the nursing home. Robert Cooper and Trae Sims represented the plaintiff.
Incidentally, I believe that nursing homes get family members of residents to sign admission agreements because they want to be able to go after the family members for the nursing home’s bills. It’s a business decision. I have defended a case that a nursing home filed against a resident’s family member who signed the admission agreement.
