PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ...

any inquiries whatsoever” into employment status of allegedly
negligent healthcare providers not duly diligent). To start with,
York Health apparently looked like a private clinic, and except
for FTCA purposes the clinic and its employees were private
actors, rather than federal employees. As the District Court
explained, the “[h]ealth care workers at private clinics, even
ones receiving some federal aid, are not federal employees in the
usual sense. After all, they do not perform a traditional
government function or work in a government building, and they
are not on the federal payroll.” Santos, 523 F. Supp. 2d at 442.
Moreover, Santos based her implicit conclusion that York
Health and its employees could be liable under state law on
inquiries, reviews of records, and other contacts with York
Health. Santos’s counsel identified the individuals whose
alleged negligence injured her, and further identified their
employer, York Health, an apparently private corporation that he
investigated by performing a public records search. Cf.
Norman, 466 F.3d at 776 (plaintiff suing individual defendant
without determining individual defendant’s employer was not
duly diligent).
In addition, we reiterate that Santos’s counsel
corresponded with York Health, obtained Santos’s medical
records, visited its facility, and retained several expert witnesses.
None of these inquiries, records, visits, or correspondence gave
him a clue that the healthcare providers or York Health had been
deemed federal employees or that Santos should contact the
Department of Health and Human Services for more information
about them. Indeed, the District Court acknowledged that
Santos’s “assumption that her doctors were private actors
subject to state law . . . was not at all unreasonable.” 523 F.
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