In a 5-2 vote, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled medical staff bylaws can serve as a legally enforceable contract between a hospital and medical staff, according to a West Central Tribune report.
The court made its ruling in lawsuit filed by the medical staff of Avera Marshall (Minn.) Regional Medical Center against the hospital. In the lawsuit, the medical staff claimed Avera Marshall's governing board stripped physicians of their self-governing power by unilaterally amending the medical staff's bylaws.
Avera Marshall argued the bylaws weren't enforceable in a lawsuit against the hospital because the bylaws didn't constitute a legal contract. The hospital also argued the medical staff didn't have the legal capacity to bring the case, according to the report.
Reversing the lower court's decision in the case, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the medical staff has the legal capacity to sue and to be sued. The court also held the bylaws "constituted a mutual and enforceable contract between the hospital and its medical staff," according to the report.
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea and Justice G. Barry Anderson provided dissenting opinions in the case. Justice Anderson said he was worried the majority opinion "will encourage conflict between medical staffs and a hospital's board of directors," according to the report.
Applauding the court's ruling, American Medical Association President Robert M. Wah, MD, said "The Avera Marshall case is an important victory in support of medical staff autonomy and the enforceability of medical staff bylaws. The court ruling reaffirms that medical staff bylaws are a binding contract that help protect the rights, duties and responsibilities of the medical staff to uphold the quality of patient care."
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