Gray Insurance v. St. Charles General Hospital

J2SHORTESS, Judge.

In 1991 Howard A. Lacy, Jr., injured his back while in the course and scope of his employment. When conservative treatment failed to bring relief, he opted for an anterior lumbar fusion in 1994. The surgery was performed by Dr. Stephen J. Flood at St. Charles General Hospital (St.Charles) in New Orleans. St. Charles’s bill for Lacy’s hospital stay was $27,171.85. The Gray Insurance Company (Gray), workers’ compensation insurer for Lacy’s employer, was obligated to pay a portion of that bill. The amount of Gray’s obligation is disputed.

In 1987, the legislature ordered the…