Mileikowsky

*537 Opinion

Appellant Gil N. Mileikowsky, M.D., held staff privileges with respondent Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center (the Hospital) until it terminated those privileges. 1 More precisely, the Hospital determined not to reappoint Dr. Mileikowsky to staff in January 2000, a decision that permitted Dr. Mileikowsky to continue working there while a hearing on the denial took place. Then, in November 2000, the Hospital summarily suspended his staff privileges, which immediately cut off his use of its facilities.

California law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 805 et seq.) codifies a physician’s right to seek peer review of adverse decisions concerning staff membership. In an effort to implement the statutory provisions, the Hospital promulgated medical staff bylaws (Bylaws) which contain, among other thing, a description of its hearing and appellate review procedures, referred to as a “Fair Hearing Plan.” In accordance with the Bylaws, a hearing was convened before a panel of peers (the Hearing Committee 2 ) to review the Hospital’s dual actions. The hearing went on for many sessions, but did not culminate in a finding on the substantive charges. Instead, the hearing officer terminated…