Opinion
No. 29353
Decided June 2, 1943.
Poor relief — Sections 3476 and 3480, General Code, in pari materia — Township trustees liable for emergency hospital service to indigents, when.
Sections 3476 and 3480, General Code, relating to the furnishing of public support or relief to indigent persons are in pari materia. Taken together, and as now effective, they impose liability on township trustees for emergency hospital service rendered indigents having a legal settlement in the respective townships of such trustees, in such amount as the trustees responsible may determine to be just and reasonable, and providing immediate written notice is given to the trustees.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals of Richland county.
The Mansfield General Hospital, an Ohio corporation not for profit, of the city of Mansfield, brought this action in the Court of Common Pleas of Richland county against the Trustees of Jefferson township, Richland county, asking for a declaratory judgment.
It requested the court to determine its rights and those of other hospitals similarly situated, and the obligation of township trustees, with respect to indigent persons, having a legal settlement in the township served by such trustees, who require hospitalization and who enter and remain in hospitals for care and attention.
The petition alleged that one Miller Shafer, an indigent person of Jefferson township, was admitted to plaintiff's hospital at different times, beginning February 5, 1941, upon order of his physicians, and was cared for; that plaintiff immediately notified the defendant trustees of such admission; that it made a fair and reasonable charge against the defendants of $210.50; and that defendants paid on such account the sum of $63.90 and have neglected and refused to pay more, leaving a net amount due of $146.60.
It was further alleged that there were a number of other instances of a similar nature.
In addition, plaintiff averred "that under the provisions of Section 3476, General Code of Ohio, the defendants are obligated to furnish public support and relief to all persons in their townships in a condition requiring it; that under the provisions of said section, defendants are obligated to pay plaintiff for the services rendered to Miller Shafer; that defendants are obligated to pay plaintiff for services rendered to all indigents who had a legal settlement in said township; that all townships are liable for the hospital expenses of indigents in their respective townships; that public support or relief mentioned in said statute includes hospital fees and expenses.
"Plaintiff contends that there are no other provisions of statute applicable, and no provisions covering the amount for which the said trustees are obligated to pay for said hospital services; that the trustees are, therefore, obligated to pay the fair and reasonable value for said services."
Plaintiff then asked the court to construe the statutes and make a declaration as follows:
"1. That under the provisions of Section 3476, General Code of Ohio, township trustees are liable for hospital services rendered to indigent people who have a legal settlement in their respective townships.
"2. That the language 'public support or relief' used in Section 3476, General Code of Ohio, includes services of a hospital.
"3. That the township trustees are obligated to pay plaintiff and other hospitals similarly situated, the fair and reasonable value of such services so rendered.
"4. That Section 3480, General Code of Ohio, has no application to services rendered by a hospital.
"5. That Section 3480-1, General Code of Ohio, has no application to cases such as the case at bar, where the indigent patient is removed to the hospital from the township of legal settlement, even though said hospital is not located in said township.
"6. That the township trustees of the township in which the hospital is located have no liability for hospital services rendered to an indigent patient removed to a hospital in said township from the township of legal settlement.
"7. That the defendants herein are liable to plaintiff for the reasonable value of the services rendered to Miller Shafer.
"8. That the amount charged, namely, $210.50, is the reasonable value of said services and that defendants are, therefore, indebted to plaintiff in the amount of $146.60, being said sum less a credit of $63.90."
No answer was filed and the cause came on for hearing upon the petition.
The court found, as set out in its journal entry, "that the defendants have paid the hospital bill of Miller Shafer referred to in said petition, and that said matter is, therefore, no part of this case; that the defendants at the time of the filing of the petition were indebted to plaintiff upon a large number of accounts for services rendered to other persons who were residents of and had a legal settlement in Jefferson township, Richland county, Ohio, all of whom were indigent persons; that defendants had paid a portion of each of said accounts but failed, neglected and refused to pay the balances due.
"Upon consideration of the statutes and the law and coming on to render the declaratory judgment prayed for, the court does find and declare:
"1. Under the provisions of Section 3476, General Code of Ohio, the defendant township trustees are liable to the plaintiff for hospital services rendered to indigent people who have a legal settlement in their township, provided the services are rendered at the request of the trustees.
"2. The language 'public support or relief' used in Section 3476, General Code of Ohio, includes services of a hospital.
"3. The township trustees are obligated to pay plaintiff the fair and reasonable value of such services so rendered, in the absence of a specific agreement as to rate of payment.
"4. Section 3480, General Code of Ohio, has no application to services rendered by a hospital, insofar as it refers to 'medical services.'
"5. Where indigent persons are sent to the plaintiff's hospital by proper public authority, other than the defendant trustees, the provisions of General Code Section 3480-1 will apply."
Plaintiff's motion for a new trial was overruled and judgment was entered upon the findings.
Being dissatisfied with the judgment given, plaintiff perfected an appeal on questions of law to the Court of Appeals, where the judgment below was modified and as modified affirmed.
The allowance of plaintiff's motion for certification brings the case to this court for review.
Messrs. Henkel Gongwer, for appellant.
Mr. John C. O'Donnell, acting prosecuting attorney, for appellees.
In their brief, defendants state without contradiction that all of the hospital services furnished to indigents as alleged in the petition occurred subsequent to June 6, 1939, the effective date of Sections 3391 to 3391-12, General Code, composing the chapter headed "Administration of Poor Relief," and that plaintiff is a public charitable institution whose real estate and buildings used for hospital purposes are exempt from taxation.
Defendants then proceed to argue three points:
1. Because of the charitable nature of the plaintiff corporation and the exemptions from taxation it enjoys, it cannot shift its obligation of caring for the poor to the state or any of its subdivisions and cannot, therefore, enforce payment from the defendants. O'Brien, Treas., v. Physicians Hospital Assn., 96 Ohio St. 1, 116 N.E. 975, L.R.A. 1917F, 741.
2. Plaintiff's right to recover for the care of indigent persons is dependent upon statutory sanction. Neither Section 3476 nor Section 3480, General Code, contemplates anything more than temporary support or relief by township trustees to indigents in their homes and cannot be extended to include the expense of care in hospitals, and Section 3480-1, General Code, is without application to the issues in the present case.
3. The plaintiff has no basis for recovery against the defendants for the hospitalization of indigent persons, for the reason that Sections 3391 to 3391-12, General Code, have modified Sections 3476 and 3480, General Code, to the extent that the powers and duties formerly possessed by township trustees in relation to poor relief have been transferred to the county commissioners.
Section 3476, General Code, reads in part:
"* * * the trustees of each township or the proper officers of each city therein, respectively, shall afford at the expense of such township or municipal corporation public support or relief to all persons therein who are in condition requiring it. It is the intent of this act that townships and cities shall furnish relief in their homes to all persons needing temporary or partial relief who are residents of the state, county and township or city * * *."
The pertinent portion of Section 3480, General Code, provides:
"When a person in a township * * * requires public relief, or the services of a physician or surgeon, complaint thereof shall be forthwith made by a person having knowledge of the fact to the township trustees * * *. If medical services are required, and no physician or surgeon is regularly employed by contract to furnish medical attendance to such poor, the physician called or attending shall immediately notify such trustees * * * in writing, that he is attending such person, and thereupon the township * * * shall be liable for relief and services thereafter rendered such person, in such amount as such trustees * * * determine to be just and reasonable * * *."
In its opinion the Court of Appeals pointed out that for some time before the enactment of Section 3391 et seq., General Code, it had been accepted and understood that Sections 3476 and 3480, General Code, were sufficiently broad to create liability on the part of a city or township for the emergency hospitalization of their indigent poor [See Mercy Hospital v. Menegay, 32 N. P. (N.S.), 1; Attorney General's Opinions, 1935, Vol. 1, page 387]; that in subsection 8 of Section 3391-2, General Code, the General Assembly expressly stated that Section 3476, General Code, and the sections related to it should remain largely undisturbed, and that in passing Section 3391 et seq., General Code, it was not the apparent purpose to absolve cities and townships from the duty of paying for the emergency hospital care of their indigent residents, nothing having been said on that subject.
The Court of Appeals further called attention to the fact that at the same legislative session in which Section 3391 et seq ., General Code, were passed, Section 3480-1, General Code, was re-enacted, making municipalities and townships responsible for the hospitalization of their indigent under the conditions described.
Thereupon, the Court of Appeals, reading Sections 3476 and 3480, General Code, in pari materia, pronounced the following finding and declaration:
"First. That under the provisions of General Code Section 3476 and 3480, township trustees are liable for emergency hospital services rendered to indigent people who have a legal settlement in their respective townships, in such amount as such trustees determine to be just and reasonable, provided that due notice is given as directed by Section 3480.
"Second. The term 'public support or relief' as used in General Code Section 3476, in connection with Section 3480, now covers only emergency hospitalization.
"Third. Township trustees are not now liable for hospital services for people who have a legal settlement therein, in the absence of contract, unless the case be an emergency one.
"Four. That Section 3480-1 has no application to the case at bar, where the indigent person is removed to the hospital from the township of legal settlement, even though said hospital is not located in said township."
It being the opinion of this court that the Court of Appeals correctly analyzed and interpreted the controlling legislation, its judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., MATTHIAS, HART and BELL, JJ., concur.
WILLIAMS, J., not participating.