Homer G. Phillips Nursing Association has its day in court

A hearing to determine whether the Homer G. Phillips Nursing Association trademark infringement lawsuit against developer Paul McKee and other defendants will move forward was held before St. Louis County Judge Heather R. Cunningham on Thursday morning.

History, heritage and technical legalities were intertwined as attorney Rick Voytas presented arguments for the Nursing Association plaintiffs.

“We feel our strong position will bear fruit at this hearing,” Voytas said following the hearing, which was held in a packed courtroom with Nurses Association members and supporters including Dr. Will Ross, Washington University, associate dean for diversity and inclusion at Washington University School of Medicine and professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology. and activist Percy Green.

Attorney Joseph Dulle argued for McKee that Cunningham should grant a summary judgement to end the case based on two arguments.

The first is that there is “no confusion” between the Homer G. Phillips Nursing Association and the urgent care facility that McKee has placed the name Homer G. Phillips.

Dulle argued that the Nursing Association “does not provide healthcare services to the people of north St. Louis.” As a result, there is “no confusion” on use of the name.

Dulle told the court there are also “at least seven other entities” in the state of Missouri that use the name.

“They don’t like the use of the name; that is not enough,” he said.

Voytas called the claim that the Nurses Association does not provide health care services and education “disingenuous.” He said his brief to Cunningham contained more than 40 examples of community health care services.

“These ladies are out in the community. They are alive and kicking and deserve the rightful protection of their name,” he said.

Voytas told Cunningham that the organization received a trademark for the name in May 2021, long before the urgent care center saw its first patient.

In countering the “no confusion” argument, Voytas said, “these ladies know who they are, and they know Paul McKee’s hospital is not them and not their heritage.”

Voytas said McKee’s use of the name Homer G. Phillips is no different than his using “The Red Cross Hospital” on the urgent care facility.

“A team of lawyers that make a lot more than I do would be here protecting the name of The Red Cross,” he said.

Following the hearing Ross said that the Washington University Homer G. Phillips Nursing Association Lecture Series is just one of the ways the organization impacts health care in the region.

He called McKee’s legal arguments and use of the name “an affront to history and to the Homer G. Phillips hospital itself.”

While Voytas said he expects a ruling might wait as long as two months.

“[The nurses] have a right to justice. And they have a right to protect their name from use on a for-profit hospital,” he said.