In this medical malpractice action, Joyce Blackmon acting in three representative capacities appeals in Case No. A07A1840 the grant of summary judgment to hospital owner Tenet Healthsystem Spalding, Inc., which order was based on the trial court’s finding that Tenet was not liable for the actions of Dr. Henry Webb, who committed the alleged malpractice that purportedly resulted in the death of Blackmon’s daughter. Dr. Webb and his physician group ACS Primary Care Physicians-Southeast, P. C. “ACS Physicians” cross-appeal in Case No. A07A2283, arguing that Blackmon lacked standing to bring the wrongful death portion of this action. Tenet cross-appeals on the same ground in Case No. A07A2284 and on the additional ground that the trial court erred in failing to grant its motion to transfer venue to Spalding County. We hold that some evidence showed that Dr. Webb was an employee of Tenet, and we therefore reverse in part and affirm in part the grant of summary judgment to Tenet. We further hold that the state court below had no equitable powers to allow Blackmon to bring this action, and we therefore reverse the denial of partial summary judgment to the defendants on the wrongful death claim. Finally, finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the order denying the transfer of venue. Summary judgment is only proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp .1
So viewed, the evidence shows that on April 22, 2003, Blackmon’s adult daughter collapsed at work and while in a semi-conscious state was rushed by emergency personnel to Tenet’s hospital only blocks away, where Dr. Webb was serving as an emergency physician. Dr. Webb twice attempted unsuccessfully to insert a central line into the daughter’s subclavian vein, and in the process unknowingly lacerated that vein. The untreated laceration caused blood to flow into the daughter’s lungs over the next several hours, which led to her death. She was survived by her incarcerated husband and by their female child, who became the ward of grandmother Blackmon.
