Michael Frazier v. Halcyon Rehab, LLC

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

Michelle Frazier, Individually and as Personal
Representative of Estate of Barbara Frazier, Appellant,

v.

Orangeburg Post-Acute, LLC dba Edisto Post-Acute fka
Riverside Rehabilitation and Health Center LLC,
Providence Group, Inc., Providence Administrative
Consulting Services, Inc., Halcyon Rehab, LLC, HMS
Purchasing LLC, Apricity Resources, LLC, OHI Asset
(SC) Orangeburg, LLC, Defendants,

Of which Halcyon Rehab, LLC, is the Respondent.

Appellate Case No. 2023-000479

Appeal from Orangeburg County
Maite Murphy, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2026-UP-304
Heard June 10, 2026 – Filed June 24, 2026

AFFIRMED

Ayesha Tonette Washington, of The Washington Law
Firm, LLC, of Charleston, for Appellant.
R. Hawthorne Barrett, of Turner Padget Graham & Laney,
PA, of Columbia, and Kelli Lister Sullivan, of Medical
Protective, of Elgin, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Appellant Michelle Frazier filed a notice of intent to file suit
pursuant to section 15-79-125(A) of the Medical Malpractice Act (Supp. 2025).
Attached to Appellant's notice of intent to file suit was an expert affidavit detailing
the alleged negligent behavior of an entity other than Respondent Halcyon Rehab,
LLC. Halcyon Rehab filed a motion to dismiss the notice of intent to file suit on the
ground that Appellant failed to comply with the expert affidavit requirement under
the Medical Malpractice Act. The circuit court granted the motion and dismissed
the notice of intent to file suit, reasoning that Appellant failed to follow presuit
procedures with regard to Halcyon Rehab—i.e., submitting an expert affidavit
alleging at least one act of negligence by Halcyon Rehab and engaging in presuit
mediation. This appeal followed.

The Medical Malpractice Act requires that a party seeking to bring a civil
action alleging injury or death as a result of medical malpractice first file a notice of
intent to file suit and an affidavit of an expert witness specifying the negligent act or
omission that exists and that "[w]ithin ninety days and no later than one hundred
twenty days from the service of the [n]otice of [i]ntent to [f]ile [s]uit, the parties shall
participate in a mediation conference." S.C. Code Ann. § 15-79-125(A), (C) (Supp.
2025).

Appellant argues that its claim against Halcyon Rehab does not sound in
medical malpractice and, as a consequence, no presuit affidavit against Halcyon
Rehab is required. However, Appellant brought the notice of intent to file suit under
the Medical Malpractice Act; thus, in order for the notice of intent to file suit to
survive dismissal, the notice must meet the presuit requirements set forth in the
Medical Malpractice Act.

Regardless of whether Appellant's claims sound in medical malpractice or
ordinary negligence, the notice of intent to file suit did not comply with the presuit
requirements. Appellant's expert affidavit did not describe any negligent act by
Halcyon Rehab and Appellant did not engage in presuit mediation. Appellant has
not identified why, under these circumstances, it was error for the circuit court to
dismiss the presuit notice as to Halcyon Rehab. Accordingly, the circuit court's order
dismissing the notice of intent to file suit is
AFFIRMED.

GEATHERS, HEWITT, and CURTIS, JJ., concur.