Illinois Supreme Court Finds Broad Immunity from Negligence Claims for Health Care Facilities Under COVID-19 Order
- October 25, 2024
The Illinois Supreme Court held October 18 that health care facilities “rendering assistance” to the state during the COVID-19 disaster declared by the governor are immune from all claims of ordinary negligence that arose during that time.
Answering a certified question about the scope of an executive order issued by the governor invoking statutory immunity for health care providers, the high court remanded the negligence action to determine whether defendant Geneva Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, LLC, doing business as Bria Health Services of Geneva (Bria), was “rendering assistance” to the state at the time the alleged negligence arose.
The high court found that immunity extended to any claims of ordinary negligence—not just those that were related to COVID-19—that occurred when the facility was rendering assistance to the state as defined by the executive order.
On March 9, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker declared Illinois a disaster area in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. On April 1, 2022, Pritzker issued Executive Order No. 2020-19, directing health care facilities, including private nursing homes, to “render assistance” to the state by providing health care services in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The order invoked statutory immunity for “any injury or death” allegedly caused by a health care facility that provided health care services in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, excluding instances of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Plaintiffs, representing the estates of former Bria residents who contracted COVID-19 and died, sued the nursing facility for wrongful death, alleging it negligently and willfully failed to control the spread of the virus.
Bria moved to dismiss the ordinary negligence claims, arguing it was immune from liability under the statute and executive order. According to Bria, it was “rendering assistance” to the state at the time of the decedents’ deaths, including by obtaining and preserving personal protective equipment and training staff in the effective and efficient use of that equipment
The high court agreed that the plain language of the executive order, which invokes statutory immunity available during disaster declarations, made clear that “except for willful misconduct, a health care facility is immune from ordinary negligence that occurred while the facility was ‘rendering assistance’ to the State in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The high court read the executive order broadly as extending immunity from ordinary negligence claims regardless of whether they related to COVID-19. if the negligence “occurred at a time” the health care facility was “rendering assistance” to the state.
A dissenting opinion argued that the majority incorrectly framed the certified question, noting the focus should have been whether health care facilities could claim immunity for negligent conduct that was wholly unrelated to the provision of any COVID-19 assistance. The dissent gave the example of a hospital's maintenance staff performing repairs and causing a fire that injured non-COVID-19 patients.
“[N]othing in the language of the executive order states that negligent conduct is immunized even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with the act of providing COVID-19 assistance; the executive order is subject to the rules of statutory interpretation and therefore must be construed narrowly, not broadly; and it would be absurd to conclude that the Governor intended to immunize negligent acts that were completely unrelated to the act of rendering assistance to the State,” the dissent wrote.
James v. Geneva Nursing and Rehabilitation Ctr., LLC, No. 130042 (Ill. Oct. 18, 2024).