Greene County Probate Judge Michael Cordonnier has named Dr. James Coulter, medical director of Select Specialty Hospital - Springfield Inc., as a legal guardian of businessman and hotelier John Q. Hammons, according to Springfield News-Leader reporting.
Coulter, a pulmonology consultant for CoxHealth's Ferrell-Duncan Clinic, has been named guardian ad litem for Hammons, who is 92 years old.
A guardian ad litem is a court-appointed independent legal guardian who makes recommendations to the court concerning an individual who can't speak for himself, according to www.lawhelp.org.
According to the article, Coulter also would determine who can visit Hammons at The Manor at Elfindale, 1707 W. Elfindale St., where he is under the care of Dr. Steven Atwood of CoxHealth and Dr. Brian Griffin, a cardiologist with the Cleveland Clinic.
Several friends of Hammons filed a petition March 4 to release Hammons from private seclusion, stating that John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts Inc. CEO Jacquie Dowdy, who holds Hammons' power of attorney, has "kept respondent, and continues to keep respondent, unreasonably and without due regard for the comfort, care and well-being of respondent, in involuntary seclusion," according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
The case was previously closed to the public, leaving court documents unavailable. Cordonnier was unable to comment due the private nature of the case. Coulter could not be reached for comment by deadline.[[In-content Ad]]
