Trial in Garth Brooks' lawsuit against hospital starts Tuesday
BY RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Monday, January 16, 2012
1/16/12 at 8:35 PM
CLAREMORE - A dispute about a $500,000 donation from Garth Brooks to a hospital in his hometown of Yukon is at the center of a civil trial that is scheduled to start Tuesday in Rogers County.
Brooks, who lives near Owasso, sued Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in 2009, alleging that he gave half a million dollars in exchange for the hospital’s promise to name a building after his mother, Colleen Brooks, who died of cancer in 1999.
When the hospital notified Brooks that it wasn’t attaching naming rights to the gift, he asked for his money back in 2008 and was turned down, according to the petition.
Brooks’ spokeswoman, Nancy Seltzer, said in an e-mail that Brooks said, “I am stunned and hurt by the way this situation has been handled by the hospital.”
But in a written response to Brooks’ petition, attorneys for Integris said Brooks made an “anonymous and unconditional” donation to Integris prior to his placement of any conditions.
Hardy Watkins, vice president of marketing and communications for Integris Health, said Monday evening that “certainly we’re confident that when all the facts surrounding this donation are presented, the jury will find in support of the hospital.”
He said hospital officials are grateful for Brooks’ contribution and “recognize it was a very generous donation,” but “we have a resposibility to all our donors to make sure we follow the law, and in this case, as in every case, that’s what we have done.”
Read more of this story in Tuesday's Tulsa World.
Associated Images:
Garth Brooks. Tulsa World File
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