Lawyers occasionally send the courts and one another notices of unavailability, in which a lawyer says that he or she will be on vacation, or in another trial, or recovering from surgery for a certain period. By rule or professional courtesy, the courts and opposing counsel won't schedule hearings or depositions during the periods when the lawyer is not available.
The federal and state courts in Washington must have been surprised to receive a notice of unavailability this week, not from lawyers in a case but from UW Medicine, the hospital system affiliated with the University of Washington. The notice states that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, until at least April 27 all medical professionals employed by UW Medicine will be unavailable to participate in any regularly-scheduled legal proceeding. In a polite way, UW Medicine has told the legal system that it's going to put treating patients and keeping its staff healthy above going through old files, sitting in depositions, and showing up for hearings.
Most of the judges and lawyers of our sister state will agree that UW Medicine is in line with our national priorities. I predict, however, that at least one tone-deaf attorney will file a motion to compel someone from UW Medicine to attend some legal proceeding, and I hope the court that hears the blithe lawyer's motion orders him or her into quarantine.
You can read the full text of UW Medicine's letter to the courts below the break. UW was thorough and also sent its notice to the state and local bar associations, the attorney general, the King County prosecuting attorney, and the public defender.
March 13, 2020
TO: Washington State Courts (State, Local, Federal)
Washington State Attorney General
King County Prosecuting Attorney
King County Department of Public Defense
Washington State Bar Association
King County Bar Association
RE: UW Medicine Emergency Notice Of Temporary Unavailability Of Medical Professionals For Court And Legal Proceedings Due To COVID-19 Pandemic
Effective immediately and continuing at least until April 27, all medical professionals employed by the UW Medicine health system will be unavailable to participate in regularly scheduled legal proceedings due to critical healthcare workforce needs and staffing shortages related to COVID-19, the pandemic illness caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, and our healthcare system’s delivery needs.
This emergency notice generally applies to all subpoenas for deposition or trial testimony and requests for litigation related interviews. UW Medicine entities that employ medical professionals who are unavailable for legal proceedings include Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center Montlake and Northwest campuses and clinics, Valley Medical Center, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine, UW Neighborhood Clinics, and Airlift Northwest.
This notice is based on city, county, state, and federal declarations of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health mandates and guidance to address the needs of our patients and medical professionals. We note the January 31, 2020 determination of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar II of a nationwide public health emergency, the February 29, 2020 declaration of
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee of a state of emergency due to the outbreak in Washington State of COVID-19, and the March 13, 2020 declaration of a national emergency by President Donald Trump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other emergency proclamations.
As a healthcare system, UW Medicine has a critical and emergent need to maintain sufficient numbers of medical professionals to respond to increasing and unprecedented patient care demands arising from the pandemic and to support public health mandates and guidance to limit spread of the pandemic. Our medical professionals lack additional availability to participate in otherwise mandatory court proceedings.
Social distancing recommendations by government and public health agencies also weigh against unnecessary potential exposure of our healthcare teams for reasons that protect the medical professionals, patients, and participants in the legal system. Pandemic symptoms monitoring or quarantine also significantly impacts the availability of our workforce.
Lastly, closure of all private and public schools, especially in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, has increased the strain on healthcare workforce families to find childcare to ensure sufficient patient care
staffing.
For these reasons, UW Medicine requests deferred communications with our workforce for activities related to legal proceedings and discovery until after April 27.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Dellit, MD (Chief Medical Officer, UW Medicine)
Lisa Brandenburg (President, UW Medicine Hospital & Clinics)