COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judge Fitzpatrick and 

 Senior Judge Duff 

Argued at Alexandria, Virginia 

THOMAS JUDGE 

v. Record No. 1515-94-4 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

 JUDGE JOHANNA L. FITZPATRICK 

R & T CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND MAY 2, 1995 

 MARYLAND CASUALTY COMPANY 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 

 Benjamin J. Trichilo (Lewis, Trichilo, Bancroft, McGavin & 

Horvath, P.C., on briefs), for appellant. 

 Charles P. Monroe (Frank R. Kearney; Mell, Brownell & Baker, 

on brief), for appellees. 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 

 Thomas Judge (claimant) appeals the commission's decision: 

(1) denying his wife, Patricia Judge (Mrs. Judge), additional 

reimbursement for nursing services performed from 1987 to 1993, 

and (2) refusing to increase Mrs. Judge's hourly wage. He argues 

that: (1) Mrs. Judge deserves additional wages for time spent 

assisting the nurses from Western Medical Services (Western) and 

picking up claimant's prescriptions, and (2) her hourly wage 

should be increased from nine dollars to fifteen dollars. We 

affirm the commission. 

 The facts are not in dispute. On October 28, 1981, claimant 

was involved in a work-related accident that rendered him a 

respirator-dependent quadriplegic. Maryland Casualty Company 

(insurer), insurance carrier of R & T Construction Company 
 2 

(employer), delegated the provision of in-home nursing care to 

Western. This Court affirmed the commission's decision requiring 

employer to provide twenty-four hour home nursing care and 

allowing Mrs. Judge to be reimbursed for care provided in 

emergency situations. Judge v. Whitmer, 6 Va. App. 152, 155-56, 

366 S.E.2d 713, 715-16 (1988). 

 Claimant seeks reimbursement of $41,432.85 for services 

provided by Mrs. Judge during the period August 1, 1987 to 

February 28, 1993 and requests an increase in her hourly wage 

from $9 to $15 for services after January 1, 1993. Insurer paid 

Mrs. Judge for services provided when a Western nurse was 

unavailable during the period in question. 

 Beginning in December 1991, Mrs. Judge reviewed the nurses' 

notes and her own time sheets and reconstructed the additional 

time she spent assisting Western nurses and picking up claimant's 

prescriptions. The summaries of additional hours prepared by 

Mrs. Judge merely list hours worked and do not specify the 

services performed. Claimant's doctor, Dr. John E. Toerge, 

reviewed Mrs. Judge's reimbursement claim and verified the 

medical necessity of her services. Dr. Toerge also testified 

that two people were needed for certain transfers and that he 

instructed Mrs. Judge to check claimant's skin condition on a 

daily basis. Insurer offered to have the prescriptions mailed 

directly to claimant's home, and that alternative was rejected. 

 Insurer's representative, Erica Mortland, testified that 
 3 

insurer pays Western $37.50 per hour for RNs and $30.75 per hour 

for LPNs. Dr. Toerge testified that the pay range for attendant 

care in an urban setting was $10 to $20 per hour. Mrs. Judge is 

not a trained nurse but has received some specialized training 

regarding her husband's care. 

 The commission found that: (1) insurer properly reimbursed 

Mrs. Judge "for time she attended her husband when regularly 

scheduled nurses were unavailable"; (2) Mrs. Judge's 

documentation of her additional services was not persuasive; (3) 

insurer was not responsible for her mileage and time spent 

picking up claimant's prescriptions; (4) Mrs. Judge failed to 

show an increase in her hourly wage was justified; and (5) Mrs. 

Judge's wages should not be based on the wages of either RNs or 

LPNs. 

 On appeal, "we review the evidence in the light most 

favorable to the prevailing party." R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. 

Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990). 

"Factual findings of the . . . [c]ommission will be upheld on 

appeal if supported by credible evidence." James v. Capitol 

Steel Constr. Co., 8 Va. App. 512, 515, 382 S.E.2d 487, 488 

(1989). 

 We cannot say, as a matter of law, that the commission erred 

in denying additional reimbursement and a wage increase. 

Credible evidence supports the commission's findings that: (1) 

Mrs. Judge was not entitled to any additional reimbursement, and 
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(2) Mrs. Judge's wages should not be increased to fifteen dollars 

per hour. Mrs. Judge's summaries of additional hours claimed are 

speculative and do not indicate which services were performed and 

how long each service took. Dr. Toerge asked Mrs. Judge to check 

claimant's skin condition and stated that two people were 

necessary for certain transfers, but the record is unclear 

concerning how much of Mrs. Judge's time was devoted to these 

services. Insurer has already reimbursed Mrs. Judge for her 

services provided when Western personnel were not available. We 

also affirm the commission's denial of reimbursement for picking 

up prescriptions because the time and cost incurred could have 

been avoided by mailing the medications. 

 Additionally, the commission's refusal to increase Mrs. 

Judge's hourly wage is supported by credible evidence. This 

Court held that a spouse may receive reimbursement for necessary 

medical attention only if "there is a means to determine with 

proper certainty the reasonable value of the services performed 

by the spouse." Warren Trucking Co., Inc. v. Chandler, 221 Va. 

1108, 1116, 277 S.E.2d 488, 493 (1981). Mrs. Judge failed to 

establish the "reasonable value of the services performed," and 

information about reasonable wages for a trained nurse was 

irrelevant in determining the value of an untrained spouse's 

services. 

 Affirmed.