Hosp. of Cent. Conn. v. Neurosurgical Assocs., P.C. – Aug. 2015 (Summary)

ON-CALL SERVICES

Hosp. of Cent. Conn. v. Neurosurgical Assocs., P.C., No. 36272 (Conn. App. Ct. Aug. 4, 2015)

A neurosurgery group inadvertently continued to be paid for on-call services to a hospital after the termination of a written contract for call coverage. The hospital argued that the group was unjustly enriched by accepting payment for continued on-call services after the termination of the contract. The court held that the neurosurgical group was not unjustly enriched because the physicians’ “staffing privileges agreements” (their agreement to abide by the medical staff bylaws when they signed their reappointment applications) required them to provide call coverage and nothing in the bylaws precluded them from being paid. The court concluded that the hospital received a benefit of equal value – call coverage – in return for the inadvertent payments.