Lewin v. St. Joseph's Hospital of Orange

In Lewin v. St. Joseph's Hospital of Orange (1978) 82 Cal. App. 3d 368, a doctor was denied hospital privileges to operate the hospital's chronic renal hemodialysis facility because it had enacted a policy to operate said facility on a "'closed-staff'" basis (i.e., arranging for exclusive use of the facility by a single group of doctors who practice at that hospital). ( Lewin, supra, 82 Cal. App. 3d at p. 375.) After at least two hearings (in which the doctor fully participated) before various hospital committees, the hospital determined that operating the facility on a "closed-staff" basis was in the best interest of the patients. ( Id. at p. 380.) The doctor filed a petition for a writ of mandate, challenging the hospital's policy. ( Id. at pp. 380-381.) After finding that the hospital hearings were "'quasi-legislative'" in nature (Lewin, supra, 82 Cal. App. 3d at p. 382), the court then examined the hospital proceedings to determine whether its actions were "arbitrary, capricious, or entirely lacking in evidentiary support or whether the agency . . . failed to follow the procedure and give the notices required by law." ( Id. at p. 383.) The court found sufficient evidence to support the hospital's decision and concluded that the decision was not unlawful or contrary to established public policy. ( Id. at pp. 390, 392-393.) Consequently, it found that the doctor was not entitled to a writ and directed the trial court to enter judgment in favor of the hospital and deny the petition. ( Id. at p. 395.)