Johnston v. Oakwood Healthcare Inc., 111219 MIWC, 7344

• Case Date: November 12, 2019
• Court: Michigan

Maryjane Johnston, SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX, Plaintiff, v. Oakwood Healthcare Inc./Beaumont Health/ Self-insured, Defendant. No. 7344 Michigan Workers Compensation State of Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Michigan Administrative Hearings System Board of Magistrates November 12, 2019          The social security number and dates of birth have been redacted from this opinion.           Robert S. Strager, (P-30896) for plaintiff.           Donald H. Hannon, (P-32745) for defendant Oakwood Healthcare Inc./Beaumont Health.          OPINION           KEITH CASTORA, MAGISTRATE 251G JUDGE.          TRIAL DATE(S)          The trial in this matter commenced on September 23, 2019. Trial concluded on November 5, 2019 with submission of trial briefs and additional stipulations.          CLAIM          The current claim arose out of an Application for Mediation or Hearing (Form A) filed by plaintiff on July 28, 2017. In that application, plaintiff alleged dates of injury of July 1, 2012 and August 17, 2012. On July 1, 2012, plaintiff alleged an injury to her back and legs after transferring a patient. She further alleged on her last date of work, August 17, 2012, her work activities as a registered nurse (RN) worsened her back and legs.          On September 27, 2019, an Application for Mediation or Hearing (Form C) was filed on behalf of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan by Gary L. Schmalzried. This was for a potential lien of $119,525.07 for dates of service December 5, 2012 through August 22, 2017.          STIPULATIONS          For the dates of injuries of July 1, 2012 and August 17, 2012, the parties stipulated that:

1. Both the defendant and plaintiff were subject to the Act.

2. The insurance carrier/self-insured carried the risk at the time of the injury.

3. The defendant employed Ms. Johnston on the dates of injury.

4. A personal injury arose out of and in the course of employment was left to proofs.

5. Defendant received timely notice and claim.

6. Plaintiff’s average weekly wage for the date of injury, July 1, 2012, was $1,479.53 and for August 17, 2012 was $1,469.06. The parties stipulated that her discontinued fringe benefits were $317.34 per week. The fringe benefits were discontinued in November 2012.

7. Plaintiff did not engage in dual employment.

8. Plaintiff does receive long-term disability benefits (LTD) at $970.26 per month but they are not coordinatible under Sections 354 or 358. Plaintiff would have to reimburse the LTD carrier if awarded benefits.

9. Plaintiff received weekly workers compensation benefits from August 21, 2012 through January 7, 2013 at the rate of $775.00.

10. Disability due to an alleged personal injury was left to proofs.

11. Plaintiff’s tax filing status was married filing joint. The parties left to proofs dependency.

         WITNESSES TESTIFYING AT TRIAL          Plaintiff – Maryjane Faith Johnston          Defendant – None          EXHIBITS          Plaintiff          1. Deposition testimony of Tejpaul Pannu, M.D. taken on March 20, 2019.          2. Deposition testimony of Elizabeth Pasikowski, MRC, CRC, LPC, BCPC, BCPTSDC taken on June 11, 2019.          3. Letter from Oakwood Hospital dated August 21, 2013.          4. Equian lien dated August 14, 2019.          5. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan lien dated August 25, 2016.          Defendant          A. Deposition testimony of Jerry Matlen, M.D. taken on July 10, 2019.          B. Deposition testimony of Maynard C. Buszek, M.D. taken on June 19, 2019.          C. Concentra Medical Centers record for date of service December 14, 2016.          D. Subpoenaed records from Hofmann Chiropractic.          E. Henry Ford Health System records.          F. Employee Incident Report dated July 1, 2012/Midwest Clinic record for dates of service July 1, 2012 – August 27, 2012/ Oakwood record dated July 1, 2012.          G. Copy of plaintiff’s Resume.          PLAINTIFF TESTIMONY          Maryjane Faith Johnston          Ms. Johnston testified on her own behalf. She lives in Plymouth, Michigan. She is 55 years of age with a date of birth of xx/xx/xx.          She is married to Danny C. Johnston. She was married on her dates of injury. She does have 3 children. The oldest is Tyler, date of birth xx/xx/xx. Tyler is autistic however; he is not currently on Social Security. He was on it at one time.          She does have a son Aiden, date of birth xx/xx/xx. He is a senior in high school. He is currently on Social Security.          Her youngest is Alexandra, date of birth xx/xx/xx. She is a junior in high school.          Educationally, Ms. Johnston received a GED in 1982 from John F. Kennedy High School in Taylor, Michigan. She attended MTA Truck Driving School from 1982-1984. She did get a CDL. She went to Wayne County Community College for nursing, 1988 – 1994. She did receive her Associates of Applied Science in Nursing. She also received her RN. She last had her CDL in 1984.          Her work history showed she worked as an RN at Wyandotte Hospital from 1994 - 1995. She then went to work for the defendant, Oakwood Hospital from 1995 through 2012, also as an RN. She worked in the critical care area for her entire tenure. This job did require lifting of 25 to 75 pounds. She would have to lift a crash cart weighing up to 100 pounds. The job would require her to bend, stoop, twist and lift her arms overhead. Her lifting included the SCD. This is a machine that is put on the patient’s calves to prevent blood clots. This weighs between 40 and 50 pounds. She also had to lift the IV machine.          Her job did require direct patient care/contact. She would have to turn the patients with and without assistance. If they were short on staff, she would do it on her own, otherwise, she would do it with 2 other nurses. She did clean the patient’s upper areas. She was required to transfer patients from the bed to a chair. This would be done by sliding the individual over with assistance. She did work with combative/noncompliant patients. This would require the assistance of Security.          Her patients would weigh anywhere from 90 to 600 pounds. The average weight was 250 to 400 pounds. Typically, the smaller the patient, the more assistance they would receive from the patient. Larger patients would give less assistance. However, this was somewhat dependent on the individual’s diagnosis.          Transferring patients was done daily. She would do these 4 to 20 times per day. The patient would use her shoulder with their arm and then she would swing the legs to get them onto the wheelchair. If they could not stand, she would hold them under the arms to stand. Transfers would be necessary if the patient was discharged to another floor, required testing such as x-rays/CT scans or helping them to get into showers or the commode.          In the beginning, her shifts were 12 hours. After her alleged injury on July 1, 2012, her hours went down gradually to 8 hours then 4 hours and then she was off work. When she was working 4 hours, she was a charge nurse. The doctor did initially put restrictions on her of 12 hours every other day then her time did go down.          Her job did require her to respond to codes. These would include chest compressions. This was done on the patient’s bed. The plaintiff would straddle the patient and push down on their chest. She would utilize her upper body and back. This was done for 5 to 10 minutes.          Her job did require charting. She did a lot of sitting and standing. She estimated she would stand in a typical day 8 to 10 hours. She would sit 2 hours per day for charting. She did go room to room and gave the patients medications.          In regard to her patient load, if she had a severely critical individual, she would only care for one individual. If the patient was somewhat stable, she would have 2 patients. She was required to assist other nurses with severely critical patients.          Prior to July 2012, she had no physical problems. She would get an occasional backache. She would put ice on her back. She did not have any significant lost time. She testified she did not have any prior injuries.          On the date of injury, July 1, 2012, she was...