Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 22STCV28453, Date: 2023-10-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV28453    Hearing Date: October 16, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

            Defendant’s motion to transfer is GRANTED.

            On 8/31/2022, Plaintiffs George Apelian D.D.S. and Victoria Apelian (collectively, Plaintiffs) filed suit against David L. Westra, M.D., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, alleging: (1) medical malpractice; and (2) loss of consortium.

            Now, Defendant David L. Westra M.D. (Defendant) moves to transfer this action to Ventura County.

Discussion

            Defendant argues that venue should be transferred to Ventura County, given that the Kaiser Defendants who did business in Los Angeles County have been dismissed in this case, and the allegations against the sole remaining Defendant took placd in Ventura County.

The Court may change venue when the court designated in the Complaint is not the proper court or when the convenience of witnesses and the ends of justice would be promoted by the change. (See CCP § 397(a), (c).)

Here, Plaintiffs are seeking to recover for personal injuries arising out of an allegedly negligent delay in treatment and repair of a cerebral spinal fluid leak after a spinal surgery that took place at Community Memorial Hospital by Dr. Westra, the only remaining Defendant in this matter. As such, the alleged negligence took place in Ventura County. Moreover, the relevant witnesses that can speak to Dr. Westra’s treatment at his office and at Community Memorial Hospital are located in Ventura County.

After review, the Court agrees that good cause exists for this action to be transferred to Ventura County.

Based on the foregoing, Defendant’s motion to transfer venue is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  October    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.