The Supreme Court of the State of Washington stated in its Opinion filed on April 11, 2024:
“A patient who goes to the emergency room, if conscious, is mostly concerned with getting care, not with untangling the contractual relationship between the hospital and the doctors who work there. And yet the characterization of the hospital-doctor relationship has profound implications for a patient’s ability to recover against the hospital for negligent treatment. This case asks us to decide when a hospital may be liable for the negligence of a doctor working in, but not as an employee of, a hospital in its emergency room.
“Cindy Essex went to Samaritan Hospital’s emergency room because she was experiencing unbearable pain in her left shoulder. Doctors working at, but not as employees of, Samaritan failed to diagnose Cindy’s necrotizing fasciitis, an aggressive soft-tissue infection. Cindy died less than 24 hours later. Her estate seeks to hold Samaritan liable for the doctors’ alleged negligence under theories of nondelegable duty, inherent function, and agency law principles of delegation.”
“Essex argues that hospital licensing statutes and regulations create a nondelegable duty to emergency room patients. We agree. Generally, an entity is not liable for the injuries caused by an independent contractor whose services are engaged by the entity. Stout v. Warren, 176 Wn.2d 263, 269, 290 P.3d 972 (2012) (citing Hickle v. Whitney Farms, Inc., 107 Wn. App. 934, 937, 29 P.3d 50 (2001)). However, where an entity has a nondelegable duty, it cannot avoid liability simply by delegating its duty to an independent contractor. Instead, an entity will be vicariously liable for the independent contractor’s negligent performance of that duty absent special circumstances not present here.”
“[O]nce a hospital undertakes to provide emergency services, it is subject to regulation and must (2) Maintain the capacity to perform emergency triage and medical screening exam twenty-four hours per day; (3) Define the qualifications and oversight of staff delivering emergency care services; (4) Use hospital policies and procedures which define standards of care;. . . . (8) Assure emergency equipment, supplies and services necessary to meet the needs of presenting patients are immediately available. WAC 246-320-281. When read together, these regulations impose a nondelegable duty on hospitals providing emergency services.”
“We conclude that WAC 246-320-136 and WAC 246-320-281 create a nondelegable duty for hospitals providing emergency care services through nonemployee doctors. Although hospitals may delegate the performance of this duty to nonemployee doctors, the ultimate duty—and thus the potential vicarious liability for the failure to meet that duty—remains with the hospital.”
“We conclude that our statutes and regulations impose nondelegable duties on hospitals concerning the provision of emergency services. A hospital remains responsible for those nondelegable duties regardless of whether it performs those duties through its own staff or contracts with doctors who are independent contractors to do so. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We use Cindy Essex’s first name for clarity. We intend no disrespect.”
Corporate Negligence
“Corporate negligence is a sustainable legal theory in Washington. A successful negligence claim requires (1) the existence of a duty owed to the complaining party, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) a resulting injury, and (4) proximate cause between the breach and the injury … The doctrine of corporate negligence “imposes on [a] hospital a nondelegable duty owed directly to the patient, regardless of the details of the doctor-hospital relationship.” Pedroza, 101 Wn.2d at 229. Accordingly, a hospital’s liability under a theory of corporate negligence is separate from its vicarious liability under the nondelegable duty doctrine … In light of Essex’s expert testimony, we conclude that there is sufficient evidence concerning Samaritan’s negligence in training and overseeing its nurses to survive summary judgment. We reverse the trial court’s summary judgment order on this issue.”
Source Estate of Essex v. Grant County Pub. Hosp. Dist. No. 1, No. 101745-6.
If you or a loved one may have been injured as a result of medical negligence in Washington or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Washington medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
