Hewitt v. Virginia Health Services Corp.

The sole issue that we consider in this appeal is whether the trial court erred when it dismissed the appellant’s wrongful death action against the appellees (health care providers) because the notice of medical malpractice was not sent by registered or certified mail.

Appellant’s decedent, Eliza Smith, was a patient at Walter Reed Convalescent Center (the Center) in Gloucester County, Virginia. She had been diagnosed as suicidal. Smith attempted to drown herself at the Center on February 9, 1986. Her attempted suicide was recorded in the Center’s nursing notes. On June 11, 1986, an employee…