Lack of hospital license makes health center immune to lawsuits
A Boulder judge recently dismissed a lawsuit that was filed against Wardenburg Student Health Center by the parents of a CU student who committed suicide.
The parents of CU student Benjamin Stattman claimed that their son’s suicide was allegedly due to Wardenburg’s misdiagnosis and mistreatment of his mental illness.
Stattman’s self-inflicted cuts led to his death on April 13, 2005. He was treated for ADHD at Wardenburg.
Ken and Carol Stattman filed a malpractice suit against Wardenburg in Oct. of 2006. They claimed that side effects from an incorrectly prescribed medication caused their son’s death.
The Stattmans sought over $100,000 in damages for the “substandard treatment” they claimed their son received as a patient at Wardenburg from 2003 to 2005.
According to the complaint filed by the Stattmans, healthcare providers at Wardenburg presented themselves as specialists in their particular fields of practice. The Stattmans argue that the level of care provided for their son was below the standard of care that specialists in their fields of practice should have provided.
Judge Maria Berkenkotter dismissed the malpractice lawsuit on Sept. 26, ruling that Wardenburg is not considered a hospital and therefore has government immunity.
“The way regulations work, hospitals are in-patient facilities,” said CU attorney Patrick O’Rourke. “Wardenburg offers much smaller services, and does not have in-patient services.”
According to court records, O’Rourke argued that Wardenburg operates solely as a community health clinic, not as a hospital.
Wardenburg’s lack of surgical services, continuous nursing services, and in-patient mental health services classify it as a health clinic.
The state of Colorado does not license Wardenburg as a public hospital.
“I thought they were just like any other hospital, like Boulder Community Hospital,” said Pamela Mayer, a sophomore majoring in French and international affairs.
Because the case was dismissed, the Stattmans say they were not able to present their suit of malpractice that would have applied to full-service hospitals.
“We weren’t even able to state our case because of a government immunity,” Ken Stattman said.
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said that the judge’s ruling is appropriate.
“State law has strict definitions as to what a hospital is, and Wardenburg does not fit these definitions,” Hilliard said. “It is shielded from liability.”
According to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, state and political subdivisions such as CU are immune from suit for injury suffered by private persons.
O’Rourke says that Wardenburg’s operations do not fall under any of the waived categories in the Governmental Immunity Act.
“I think there should be some protection for doctors, but I feel that you should be confident in the treatment you receive,” Mayer said.
Hilliard said that he is confident in the level of care that Wardenburg offers.
“Students can still go to Wardenburg with great confidence,” Hilliard said. “It offers high quality care.”
The Stattmans say that they are considering appealing their case.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Katherine Spencer at katherine.a.spencer@colorado.edu.
