Craig Barton, a minor, by and through his parents Brady Barton and Barbara Barton, as natural guardians and next friends, sued MCG Health, Inc. “MCGHI” and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia d/b/a Medical College of Georgia “the Board”, alleging that the defendants’ professional negligence caused him personal injury. In Case No. A07A1060, MCGHI appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion for summary judgment, arguing that Barton failed to establish that any of defendants’ actions proximately caused his injury or, in the alternative, that the intervening acts by the Board’s physicians precluded any recovery against MCGHI. In Case No. A07A1061, the Board appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion to exclude the testimony of Barton’s medical expert and for summary judgment, arguing that Barton’s expert was not qualified to render opinions regarding whether the Board’s physicians deviated from the proper standard of medical care, and that Barton had failed to provide any evidence that the Board’s physicians proximately caused his injury. Because these two appeals involve the same set of facts and principles of law, we consolidate them for review. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court’s denial of both MCGHI’s and the Board’s motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment is 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; Britt v. Kelly & Picerne, Inc. 1 “On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence are construed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.” McCaskill v. Carillo .2
So construed, the evidence shows that at approximately 5:00 p.m. on December 29, 2003, 16-year-old Craig Barton was playing basketball with some friends on his driveway outside of his home. While playing, one of Barton’s friends collided with Barton’s left leg, which caused that leg to collapse into his right leg. Barton immediately felt a sharp pain in his testicles and had to stop playing. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Barton was still in pain and also had swelling in his testicles, so his father took him to Eisenhower Army Medical Center “EAMC” a/k/a DDEAMC. At EAMC, Barton was told that he needed to be examined by a urologist and undergo an ultrasound test, but that the examinations would have to be performed at the Medical College of Georgia Hospital “MCG”. Consequently, EAMC personnel contacted MCG’s Emergency Communication Center “ECC” specialist, who in turn contacted the chief of urology at MCG. Based on Barton’s injury, the chief of urology informed EAMC that Barton would be accepted for admission and evaluated by a urologist upon his arrival at MCG’s emergency department. To facilitate this admission, the MCG ECC specialist prepared an ECC referral form, which normally would have been delivered immediately to the emergency department’s triage nurse.
