Case Title: Bruner v. Oregon Baptist Home

Citation: 208 Or. 502, 302 P.2d 558

Docket Number: 

State: oregon

Court: Oregon Supreme Court

Date: 1956-10-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
208 Or. 502 (1956)
302 P.2d 558
BRUNER
v.
OREGON BAPTIST RETIREMENT HOME

Supreme Court of Oregon.
Submitted on briefs October 4, 1956.
Affirmed October 24, 1956.
*503 Wendell E. Cameron and B.G. Skulason, Portland, for appellant.
Barzee, Leedy & Erwin, Portland, for respondent.
AFFIRMED.
TOOZE, J.
This is a suit for specific performance of a contract and for damages, brought by Jane L. Bruner, as plaintiff, against Oregon Baptist Retirement Home, a corporation, as defendant. A decree was entered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant for specific performance of the contract and for damages in the sum of $956.40. Defendant appeals.
Defendant is an Oregon corporation and, according to its constitution, is organized to "provide a retirement home for members of the Columbia Baptist churches of Oregon and their friends, where they may enjoy Christian fellowship and care during their retirement years; to carry on such a home that will provide and promote spiritual, moral and physical welfare to those to whom the services may be available; * * *." It maintains a home for the aged in Portland, Multnomah county, Oregon. To obtain entrance to the home one must make written application therefor upon forms provided by the defendant. If the application is accepted by the defendant, a written contract is entered into between the defendant and the applicant, the form of contract being that prepared by the defendant. *504 A fixed sum of money is agreed upon between the applicant and the defendant as a consideration to be paid by the applicant for the care to be furnished by the defendant. The sum agreed upon is based upon a certain amount for each month and the life expectancy of the applicant.
In 1948 the plaintiff, then of the age of 84 years, filed her application with the defendant for entry into the home maintained by defendant. Her application was accepted, and on August 16, 1948, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written agreement, the important provisions of which are the following:
Plaintiff paid to the defendant the full sum of $3,875, fixed by the contract. This gross amount was based upon an anticipated cost of $65 per month for plaintiff's care according to her life Expectancy as set forth in the Commissioner's Life Expectancy Table.
On or about December 5, 1951, plaintiff suffered an accident which resulted in paralysis of the left leg. On December 10, 1951, plaintiff was sent by the defendant to the Emanuel hospital in Portland, Oregon, for hospital care and attention. From the Emanuel hospital plaintiff was sent by the defendant to the Wildwood Rest Home in Portland, Oregon, for care. At all times since her accident in December, 1951, and now plaintiff has been and is bedridden. The defendant is not licensed as a hospital nor to care for bedridden patients, and is not equipped to render such services. The Wildwood Rest Home is so equipped. The defendant paid the cost of plaintiff's hospital care at Emanuel hospital and until May, 1955, paid for her care at the rest home. In May, 1955, defendant attempted to terminate its contractual responsibility to plaintiff, but did pay for her care up to approximately October 1, 1955. Thereafter, it refused to recognize any liability under its agreement with the plaintiff. This suit was then commenced to compel defendant to perform its duties under its agreement with the plaintiff and for damages in the sum of money expended by plaintiff for her own care subsequent to October 1, 1955.
1, 2. The only question for our consideration on this appeal is an interpretation of the agreement between the plaintiff and defendant. Under its agreement, *506 defendant undertook to care for the plaintiff during the remainder of her natural life. As a part of this care it agreed under subd. (d) of the first paragraph of the agreement to furnish to plaintiff, in cases of need, "ward care in a hospital as supervised by the Home Physician." In other words, it agreed in cases of necessity to furnish plaintiff hospital care and attention outside its home, limited only by the provision that plaintiff would be furnished ward care only, as distinguished from a private room in a hospital. In our opinion, the provisions of this contract are definite, certain, and wholly unambiguous. It is axiomatic that such a contract must be construed according to its plain terms. The contracts of parties sui juris are solemn undertakings, and in the absence of any recognized ground for denying enforcement, they must be enforced strictly according to their terms.
3, 4. Up to the time of trial it appeared that the defendant had paid out in excess of $9,000 for and on account of the care given plaintiff under the agreement. It is thus apparent that the defendant has lost money under its contract with plaintiff, but that fact is wholly unimportant in so far as the issues in this case are concerned. However, it might be well to point out that the money paid by each person entering defendant's home immediately becomes the property of defendant and is retained by the defendant even though the guest should live but a week or two after entering the home. In other words, many who enter the home do not live out their life expectancy as contemplated by the agreement, and the unused funds of those persons become available to make up the deficiency arising in the accounts of those who live beyond their life expectancies or suffer disability requiring hospital care, as did the plaintiff. We approve of what was said by the able *507 trial judge in deciding the issues immediately upon the termination of the trial. He said:
The decree is affirmed.