MARSHALL – The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision on the authority of a local hospital board to change its medical staff bylaws.

On Monday, the appeals court released an opinion affirming that the Avera Marshall Medical Center board of directors could amend medical staff bylaws without needing the approval of a majority of the medical staff.

“We are pleased about it,” said David Crosby, attorney for Avera Marshall, on Monday. At its core, the issue before the court was whether the hospital board had the ultimate decision-making power over staff bylaws, Crosby said. “They reached the same conclusion that (the district court judge) reached.”

The appeals court’s decision was the latest event in a long-running lawsuit brought against Avera Marshall by a group of local physicians. In 2012, the physicians alleged that Avera Marshall had violated medical staff bylaws. However, the key issues a Lyon County District Court judge ruled on were whether the medical staff was a legal entity that could sue, and whether the bylaws were a contract between the hospital and the medical staff.

The case eventually went to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled that the medical staff could sue and be sued in court, and that the medical staff bylaws did form a contractual relationship between Avera Marshall and medical staff members.

The Supreme Court turned the case back to the Lyon County District Court, to implement the decision. During that process, District Court Judge Michelle Dietrich ruled that the Avera Marshall board of directors had the authority to amend medical staff bylaws, without needing the approval of a two-thirds majority of the medical staff.

In December, the physicians who brought the lawsuit said they would appeal that ruling.

Eric Magnuson, attorney for the physicians in the lawsuit, said Monday that the appeals court’s decision was disappointing, but it still might not be the end for the suit.

“We had to go to the Supreme Court last time to vindicate our position, and that possibility is still available to us,” Magnuson said. The plaintiffs will have 30 days to decide whether to take their case to the state Supreme Court.