Goshen Hospital Class Action

ELKHART COUNTY INDIANA SUPERIOR COURT
STATE OF INDIANA
Cause No. 20D02-1911-CT-000243

If you were a patient who received a letter from Goshen Hospital regarding a procedure you had there using a lumened instrument between April 2019 and September 2019, or if you are or were a spouse of such a patient, a class action lawsuit may affect your rights.

• In November 2019, 1,182 patients who underwent surgery at Goshen Hospital using lumened instruments, between April 2019 and September 2019, were sent letters informing them that a surgical technician had not completed a step in the multi-step sterilization process of certain surgical instruments. The letter further advised that while the instruments were treated with the normal chemical sterilization and machine sterilization processes, the instruments may or may not have been sterile and the technician’s failures may have exposed these patients “to infections such as the hepatitis C virus, the hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).”

• Linda Gierek, a patient of Goshen Hospital who received one of these letters, along with her husband, Stephen Gierek, have sued Goshen Health System, Inc. d/b/a Goshen Health, Goshen Hospital Association, Inc. d/b/a Goshen Hospital, and Goshen Health Surgery Center, LLC (collectively referred to as “Goshen Hospital”), alleging that the failures in sterilization and resulting warnings negligently inflicted emotional distress upon them and others similarly situated.

• The Court has allowed the lawsuit to proceed as a class action to resolve certain aspects of legal claims against Goshen Hospital. Individual determinations of monetary damages may be necessary at a later stage of these proceedings.

• There are two classes certified in this action:

1. The first class—i.e., the “Patients Class”—includes all patients of Goshen Hospital to whom Goshen Hospital sent a letter, identical or substantially similar to the letter it sent to Linda Gierek, informing them that, between April and September 2019, one or more employees of Goshen Hospital did not complete all steps in the surgical instrument sterilization process and notifying them that they may have been exposed to infections such as the hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

2. The second class—i.e., the “Spouses Class”—includes all persons who were married to a patient included in the definition of the Patients Class at any time between the date on which the patient underwent surgery from Goshen Hospital (for which a letter was sent) and the date on which the letter was sent to the patient.

• The Court has not decided whether Goshen Hospital did anything wrong or if they are liable to anyone. There is no money available now, and no guarantee there will be. However, your legal rights are affected, and you have a choice to make now:

• Your options are explained in the Notice. To ask to be excluded, you must act before July 13, 2026.