PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, JR., Commissioner.
On November 7, 1987, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the applicant, John P. O'Donnell, suffered personal injury as a result of an assault by Joseph Colapietro.
The assault was reported to the Cleveland Police Department within seventy-two hours after the occurrence.
The assailant has been charged with aggravated robbery and attempted murder.
On March 7, 1988, the applicant filed a reparations application.
On October 24, 1988, the applicant filed a supplemental reparations application.
On November 7, 1988, the Attorney General filed a finding of fact and recommendation wherein the claims asserted in the March 7, 1988 reparations application and those asserted in the October 24, 1988 supplemental reparations application were addressed.
After careful review of the March 7, 1988 reparations application, the October 24, 1988 supplemental reparations application, the Attorney General's November 7, 1988 finding of fact and recommendation, and the documents and evidence contained in the claim file, I find the applicant has met the jurisdictional requirements necessary for an award of reparations.
The applicant has incurred unreimbursed allowable expense in the amount of $120,197.
R.C. 2743.60(I) states:
"Reparations payable to a victim and to all other claimants sustaining economic loss because of injury to or the death of that victim shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate." See 141 Ohio Laws, Part II, 5481.
As a consequence of R.C. 2743.60(I), the maximum amount which may be granted in reparation of the applicant's unreimbursed allowable expense is $25,000. Also, because the maximum amount will be granted in reparation of unreimbursed allowable expense, neither the Attorney General's finding of fact and recommendation nor this opinion will consider the applicant's claim that he incurred work loss.
The claim file includes two assignments, one to Fairview General Hospital and one to Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. The Attorney General's investigation of the assignments concluded that the assignments were invalid because of improper execution. However, I find that the assignment to Fairview General Hospital was properly executed and as such is valid. The assignment to Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. was not signed and dated by an assignor nor was it attested to by a witness.
R.C. 2743.66(E)(4) provides:
"The assignment delivered to the attorney general appears on a separate document the exclusive subject of which is `assignment of a right to payment of all or part of an award of reparations' and which is duly signed and dated by the assignor and attested by one or more witnesses." (Emphasis added.)
Because the assignment to Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. was not executed in accordance with the provisions of R.C. 2743.66(E)(4), it is invalid and unenforceable.
I find that the assignment to Fairview General Hospital, which assigned the right to receive $95,150.45, was voluntary and is enforceable in the amount of $25,000. The value of the assignment is limited to $25,000 because pursuant to R.C. 2743.60(I), $25,000 is the maximum amount which may be awarded. As authorized by R.C. 2743.66(F), it is the policy of this court to pay the amount subject to the assignment to the assignee. In this claim, because the amount assigned, $95,150.45, exceeds the maximum amount which may be awarded, $25,000. The entire $25,000 shall be paid to the assignee, Fairview General Hospital.
Findings of Fact
1. The applicant was criminally assaulted by Joseph Colapietro on November 7, 1987, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
2. The assault was reported to a law enforcement officer or agency within seventy-two hours after the occurrence.
3. The assailant has been charged with aggravated robbery and attempted murder.
4. The applicant has incurred unreimbursed allowable expense in the amount of $120,197.
5. The claim file contains a properly executed assignment to Fairview General Hospital wherein the assignor assigned the right to receive $95,150.45.
6. The claim file contains an assignment to Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. which was not signed or dated by an assignor nor attested to by a witness.
Conclusions of Law
1. The applicant qualifies as a "claimant" as defined by R.C. 2743.51(A); the applicant has incurred unreimbursed allowable expense in excess of the $25,000 limitation imposed by R.C. 2743.60(I). Consequently, only $25,000 will be awarded in reparation of the $120,197 in unreimbursed allowable expense.
2. The assignment to Fairview General Hospital was executed in accordance with the provisions of R.C. 2743.66(E)(1) through (4) and is valid and enforceable in the amount of $25,000.
3. The assignment to Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. was not executed in accordance with the provisions of R.C. 2743.66(E)(4) and is consequently invalid and unenforceable.
Order
1. Judgment is rendered against the state of Ohio and the Director of Budget and Management as its agency for payment of the award in the amount of $25,000.
2. The entire judgment which is subject to an assignment executed on March 23, 1988, in the amount of $25,000, shall be paid to Fairview General Hospital, and shall be sent directly to the foregoing hospital.
3. The purported assignment submitted by Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc. is invalid and shall not be enforced.
4. The Clerk shall send a copy of this opinion and order to Fairview General Hospital and Westgate Medical Anesthesia Group, Inc.
5. This award is expressly conditioned upon the subrogation provisions of R.C. 2743.72, which require any benefits or advantages received from any collateral source, including the offender, be repaid to the state of Ohio.
6. Costs assumed by the reparations fund.
Order accordingly.