Brief Fact Summary. Darling (Plaintiff) claimed that Charleston Community Memorial Hospital (Defendant) was liable for alleged negligence by its staff.Â
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A hospital may be liable for the negligence of its staff.
Courts must in the end say what is required; there are precautions so imperative that even their universal disregard will not excuse their omission.
View Full Point of LawIssue. May a hospital be liable for the negligence of its staff?
Held. [Judge not stated in casebook excerpt.] Yes. A hospital may be liable for the negligence of its staff. There is no reality to the idea that a hospital provides facilities only and does not claim to act through its staff doctors and nurses. Modern hospitals provide facilities and much more. They employ a large staff of doctors, nurses, administrators, and other workers, and are not hesitant to collect fees for services performed at the hospital. A person goes to a hospital and reasonably expects the hospital as an entity to treat him. Therefore, no legitimate basis exists for not holding a hospital vicariously responsible for torts of its employed staff. In this case, the jury found negligence by both Alexander (Defendant) in the procedures he used, and the nursing staff in their follow-ups. This was thoroughly supported by the evidence. Affirmed.
Discussion. Doctors have traditionally been viewed by their hospitals as independent contractors. Under the common-law “independent contractor” rule, one employing a contractor as opposed to an employee will not be vicariously responsible for the contractor. This rule has been weakened in recent times in society in general, and in medicine as well.