Similarly, the law imposes upon a hospital a direct duty to the patient in connection with his treatment, and consequently holds the hospital liable for its own negligence, even if there is or there is not any negligence on the part of a physician. Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of LSU, 490 So.2d 307, 313 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986). PLAINTIFFS' JURY CHARGE NO. 2
The Commissioner's second argument is that because the statute says that the court must determine whether there is a need for future medical care and related benefits and "the amount thereof," the trial court erred by awarding expenses for future medical care as incurred without specifying an amount. The Commissioner cites Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 490 So.2d 307 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986), in which the First Circuit had to interpret the language of La.R.S. 40:1299.39 (B), a statute which relates to medical malpractice claims against the state and which incorporates a virtually identical scheme for the recovery of future medical care as does Section 1299.43.
"A hospital has a duty to provide and maintain adequate facilities and supplies and a competent staff so as to provide competent care to its patients." Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 490 So.2d 307, 311 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986). Louisiana jurisprudence also holds "that a hospital is responsible for the negligence of its employees including, inter alia, nurses and attendants, under the doctrine of respondeat superior."
"A hospital has a duty to provide and maintain adequate facilities and supplies and a competent staff so as to provide competent care to its patients." Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 490 So.2d 307, 311 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986). Louisiana jurisprudence also holds "that a hospital is responsible for the negligence of its employees including, inter alia, nurses and attendants, under the doctrine of respondeat superior."
In fact, "[a] hospital's duty and corresponding liability for breach of that duty is in direct proportion to its right to control the medical treatment rendered there." Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 490 So.2d 307, 314 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986). In the present case, to establish independent contractor status, Citizen's presented a "Hospital Emergency Care Agreement" between it and the Gould Group, a physician staffing service, which expressly stated that the physicians which Gould was to provide would:
A determination of whether a hospital has breached the duty of care it owes to a particular patient depends upon the circumstances and the facts of that case. Hunt v. Bogalusa Community Medical Center, 303 So.2d 745, 747 (La. 1974); Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University (Sibley II), 490 So.2d 307, 311 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 496 So.2d 325 (La. 1986). To this end, hospitals have internal regulations, set certain policies, and maintain a system of committees, each monitoring a different aspect of the hospital.
The Commissioner's second argument is that because the statute says that the court must determine whether there is a need for future medical care and related benefits and "the amount thereof," the trial court erred by — awarding expenses for future medical care as incurred without specifying an amount. The Commissioner cites Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 490 So.2d 307 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986), in which the First Circuit had to interpret the language of La.R.S. 40:1299.39(B), a statute which relates to medical malpractice claims against the state and which incorporates a virtually identical scheme for the recovery of future medical care as does Section 1299.43. In Sibley, the appellate court was instructed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to award medical expenses to the plaintiff following a retroactive amendment to R.S. 40:1299.
Similarly, a hospital has, by virtue of its authority to grant, deny or revoke staff privileges, a certain degree of control over the quality of medical care provided in its hospital. Sibley v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University 490 So.2d 307, 313, (La.App. 1st Cir., 1986). Therefore, it has been held that a hospital which negligently grants staff privileges to an incompetent physician would be directly liable to a patient damaged by that physician's incompetence.
5. From this Court's research, it found that the Louisiana Court of Appeals held that, "[a] hospital has a duty to provide and maintain adequate facilities and supplies and a competent staff so as to provide competent care to its patients. . . . Yet hospitals are not insurers of their patients." Sibley v. Board of Supervisors, 490 So.2d 307, 311 (La.Ct.App. 1986). In Sibley, the Court distinguished the claims against the hospital related to the inappropriate medical records procedures and the inappropriate team treatment system, as procedures involved with the everyday running of the hospital, versus the allegations of negligence that related to medical treatment.
We remanded this case to the court of appeal, which ultimately remanded it to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether this legislative classification substantially furthered a legitimate state purpose. See Sibley, 490 So.2d 307 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986). Prior to judicial determination of whether the $500,000.00 malpractice judgment limitation was enacted in furtherance of a legitimate state purpose, what the Louisiana Legislature perceived to be a malpractice insurance crisis, the parties settled this case.