PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ...

publicize their status as federal entities, nor does [the
Department of Health and Human Services] publish this
information.” Santos, 523 F. Supp. 2d at 447.
The Government also asserts that “[a] simple inquiry
directed at the health center would have been sufficient in and
of itself.” Appellee’s br. at 30. While the record does not
indicate whether this assertion is true, clearly it presents an odd
scenario in which Santos, a potential claimant, should have
relied on her adversary to inform her of the applicability of the
FTCA and its two-year statute of limitations. In any case, the
Government does not contend that the healthcare providers or
York Health would have been obligated legally to reveal their
federal status. Moreover, while we do not doubt that the
management of York Health understood its FTCA liability
status, we are by no means certain that this knowledge extended
to its employees, and the record is silent on this point. Overall,
it seems to us, as far as we can see from the record, that Santos
and her counsel had no reason to inquire as to the possible
federal status of York Health and its employees.
3. Santos Was Precluded from Discovering That York Health
and the Defendant Caregivers Were Federal Employees.
So where should Santos have looked to determine that the
caregivers and York Health had been deemed federal
employees, and what information could have alerted her of the
need to do so? As a practical matter, York Health’s federal
status, if not covert, was at least oblique. Of course, Santos
faces her statute of limitations barrier because of the
Government’s
30