A medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a Guyton couple against Effingham Hospital and several physicians is moving forward, with the defendants now offering their first detailed responses to allegations that inadequate care left a once-healthy mother of two permanently disabled.
Background
In June 2026, a Guyton woman and her husband filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Effingham Hospital/Effingham Health System, three physicians, and several affiliated medical groups, alleging that ongoing and inadequate treatment turned a treatable gastrointestinal condition into a catastrophic medical crisis that left her permanently disabled. The lawsuit alleges professional negligence, lack of informed consent, respondeat superior liability, and loss of consortium.
Mindi Grooms, a previously healthy and active mother of two, first sought treatment at Effingham Hospital in January 2024 for gastrointestinal problems that included persistent bloody stools and abdominal distress. She was treated primarily by Dr. Robert Alexander Wynn, a general surgeon, along with Dr. Bernardino Villescas and Dr. Christopher Curro. The lawsuit alleges that despite worsening ulcerative colitis, repeated hospital visits, significant colon dilation, and signs of toxic megacolon, Grooms was never referred to or evaluated by a gastroenterologist and was not transferred to another facility for specialized care.
Her condition deteriorated dramatically in August and September 2024. The complaint alleges that after returning to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and worsening colon dilation, a perforation went undetected for approximately 30 hours, allowing fecal matter to enter her abdominal cavity. Grooms. became septic and underwent emergency surgery to remove her colon, leaving her with a permanent ostomy.
Grooms was eventually transferred to Wellstar MCG Health in Augusta in December 2024, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit suffering from cardiogenic and septic shock. Ultimately, doctors amputated her right arm below the shoulder, most of her right foot, and her left foot after she developed dry gangrene. At the time the lawsuit was filed, she had spent more than 600 days in medical facilities, could not walk or work, required around-the-clock care and IV nutrition, and continued to suffer from significant medical complications.
The complaint against the parties included affidavits from physicians who allege that the care provided fell below accepted medical standards. Grooms and her husband are seeking damages for medical expenses, lost wages, physical and emotional suffering, loss of consortium and more. The allegations remain pending in court and have not been adjudicated.
Read the full story here.
Read the complete civil complaint here.
Legal representation
- Mindi & Harry Grooms – represented by Brent J. Savage and Greg Gilluly Jr. of Savage, Turner, Pinckney, Savage, Sprouse, & Gilluly.
- Dr. Robert Alexander Wynn and Southern Surgical Providers P.C. – represented by Andrew M. Wilkes, William Drought, and William C. Phillips of Oliver Maner.
- Effingham Hospital Inc. – represented by Andrew M. Wilkes, William Drought, and William C. Phillips .
- (Attorneys represent Wynn and SSP as well, but filed separate Answers to the suit by Grooms.
- Dr. Christopher Curro & Dr. Bernardino Villescas (Chief of Medicine) – represented by Travis D. Windsor and W. Richard Deckle of Pace & Windsor LLC.
- Sound Physicians Advisory Services, Inc, Sound Physicians Intensivists of Georgia P.C., and Sound Physicians of Georgia III P.C. – represented by Travis D. Windsor and W. Richard Deckle of Pace & Windsor LLC.
- Judge Michael Karpf – Chatham County Superior Court
Answers from Defendants
In late July, attorneys filed responses on behalf of the defendants in the case.
Responses from the involved parties largely focused on the ‘standard practice of care’ and the denial of any liability through any negligent act or omission.
The Answer of Dr. Christopher Curro & Dr. Bernardino Villescas asserted that the care and treatment provided to Grooms was not a deviation from the applicable standard of care and did not cause or contribute to any of the alleged injuries claimed by Grooms. Attorneys also wrote that neither Curro nor Villescas had seen the entire patient file for Grooms so they were unable to admit or deny many of the claims asserted in the complaint.
The Answer of Effingham Hospital Inc. asserted that the hospital should not be party to the suit and the claims against the hospital should be dismissed entirely.
The Answer for Dr. Robert Alexander Wynn and Southern Surgical Providers P.C. was filed last. Expectedly, Wynn denied the majority of the claims laid out in the complaint filed by Grooms in June. In the 43-page answer, attorneys for Wynn argued that:
- the claim should be dismissed because it fails to state claim for which relief can be granted
- a degree of care and skill employed generally in similar circumstances and conditions was exercised
- neither Wynn nor any agent or partner of Southern Surgical Providers P.C. (SSP) was negligent
- no act or omission caused the injuries to Mindi Grooms
- the statute of limitations has expired
- Wynn and SSP are not vicariously liable for any alleged negligent act or omission of anyone who was not their actual employee
Wynn Not a Gastroenterologist, No Gastroenterologist On Call at Hospital
Wynn’s response about specialization of care largely focused on industry trends and what is acceptable medical practice. But attorneys also conceded that Effingham Hospital had no gastroenterologist providing on-call services for in-patient care needs. Specifically, attorneys said:
- During the period of Mindi Grooms’s hospitalization, “no gastroenterologists provided on call services at Effingham Hospital” and that “Wynn, who was a board-certified general surgeon with more than twenty-three years of experience in the medical and surgical management of gastrointestinal diseases, was qualified to treat patients for these issues.”
- No gastroenterologist was available for inpatient consultation at the hospital because Effingham Hospital did not maintain inpatient gastroenterology consultation services.
- “Defendants deny that they violated the standard of care in not ordering a gastroenterology consultation. This patient was treated at Effingham Hospital, which operates as a Critical Access Hospital, where inpatient gastrointestinal management is provided by the board-certified general surgeon in collaboration with the hospitalist service.”
- Grooms’ biopsies were never reviewed by a gastroenterologist, but were reviewed by a pathologist.
- The referral of Grooms to a general surgeon (Wynn) by the ER was “consistent with accepted medical practice, particularly within a rural healthcare system where general surgeons routinely perform diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy.”
Second Opinions & Transfer of Care
- Throughout the response, Wynn’s attorneys repeatedly denied that the standard of care required a referral to a gastroenterologist.
- Attorneys referenced an earlier discussion of a gastroenterology referral, but it was in relation to Grooms’ treatment in the Emergency Room. “Obtaining an additional opinion was discussed prior to her second colonoscopy” and “a gastroenterology consult was documented during her subsequent Emergency DEpartment evaluation on August 4, 2024, and that Ms. Grooms informed her treating physicians that Dr. Wynn was managing her ulcerative colitis and elected to continue under his care.
Notably, the discussion of second opinions, transfers of care, and referrals are mentioned in reference to Grooms’ August medical visits, which was almost a month before her extended in-patient stay immediately preceding her sepsis, steep decline, and ultimately debilitating condition.
Attorneys also wrote that providers transfer patients when they need services unavailable at Effingham Hospital and when accepting physicians and receiving facilities are available.
*This article has been updated to include clarification that the ER cannot refer to a specialist and can only recommend follow-up care.
Treatment Plan
Attorneys said Wynn attempted to treat inflammatory bowel disease, rather than just provide symptom suppression. The repeated colonoscopies, they argue, were consistent with accepted management of patients demonstrating persistent or recurrent inflammatory bowel disease. They were also needed to ‘guide further treatment decisions.’
Further, attorneys said treatment of Grooms with a medication withdrawn from the market did not represent an FDA determination that the therapy was unsafe or inappropriate.
Wynn’s Answer also said decisions were made “collaboratively through ongoing discussions with the patient and her family” in an effort to avoid a colectomy and that some therapies were not administered due to insurance authorization requirements.
Business Practices & Financial Incentives
Attorneys did admit that Wynn is the CFO, CEO, Secretary, and Registered Agent for Southern Surgical Providers P.C. and that he serves as the Chief of Surgery for Effingham Hospital Inc as well as the Chief Medical Officer for the hospital. Attorneys, however, said his administrative responsibilities “were separate and independent of his clinical decision-making in the care of Ms. Grooms.”
Wynn denied receiving compensation under a ‘productivity-based RVU agreement,” stating that his professional reimbursement for patient care is independent of the hospital at which a procedure is performed, and he receives substantially the same professional reimbursement” at all facilities. In denying the claims of incentives, attorneys said that his endoscopic volume has remained consistent throughout his career.
Wynn’s “annual and general surgical and endoscopic procedures volume fell within the expected range for an actively practicing general surgeon serving a rural referral area” consistent with “maintaining procedural competency,” they argued.
Attorneys for Wynn and Effingham Hospital took specific issue with the Grooms’ complaint stating that the hospital was ‘about thirty minutes from Savannah’ as well.
Request for Action
Wynn, Southern Surgical Providers P.C., Effingham Hospital Inc., Villescas, and Curro asked the Court to:
Dismiss the Grooms’ complaint, award all costs of the action upon the Grooms, and in the absence of a dismissal, grant a trial by a jury of 12.
After first filing the suit in June, attorneys for the Grooms family learned that Dr. Christopher Curro was employed by Cogent Healthcare of Georgia P.C.(already a party to the suit) and Dr. Bernardino Villescas was employed by Echo Locum Tenens, Inc. (not previously named in the suit) at the time of the alleged acts in the suit. As a result, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia (initially named as an employer) was dropped from the suit and Echo Locum Tenens, Inc. was added to the suit. The move was unopposed by the Defendants in the suit.
