Allen County Dept. of Public Welfare v. Ball Memorial Hospital Ass'n

Decision Date20 November 1969
Docket NumberNo. 269S30,269S30
Citation252 N.E.2d 424,253 Ind. 179
PartiesALLEN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, Appellant, v. BALL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION, INC., State Department of Public Welfare, Madison County Department of Public Welfare Delaware County Department of Public Welfare, Appellees.
CourtIndiana Supreme Court

Hunt, Suedhoff & Wilks, Robert H. Berning, Fort Wayne, for appellant.

Bracken, DeFur, Voran & Hanley, Marshall E. Hanley, Pieroni, Hynes, Dixon & Marsh, Mario Pieroni, Muncie, Shine & Shine, Anderson, for appellees.

ARTERBURN, Judge.

This is an action for the determination of liability for the costs of hospital care for an indigent person, brought by the appellee, Ball Memorial Hospital Association, Inc., against appellant, Allen County Department of Public Welfare, and appellees, State Department of Public Welfare, Madison County Department of Public Welfare and Delaware County Department of Public Welfare.

The State Department of Public Welfare held a hearing on the matter, as provided for in Burns, Ind.Stat.Anno. § 52--1147, 1969 Cum.Supp., and entered the following decision:

'Chapter 172 of the Acts of 1965 provides in part, that in the event any indigent person is injured in any county of this State, any hospital to which such indigent is admitted for care shall within seventy-two hours, not counting holidays or week ends, report such matter to the Department of Public Welfare of the county in which the person is injured. In this case Robert Carl Owens, Sr. was admitted to the Ball Memorial Hospital on Saturday, May 7, 1966, and notice was mailed to the Delaware County Department of Public Welfare on Thursday, May 12, 1966.

'On the basis of the above statement of facts it is the decision of the State Department of Public Welfare that not counting Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8, the notice was not given within the seventy-two hours as provided in said Chapter 172 of the Acts of 1965, and that, therefore, no county welfare department is liable for the cost of this care under the said Chapter 172 of the Acts of 1965.'

Upon a petition for review of this ruling, the Delaware Circuit Court reversed said ruling and entered judgment for appellee Ball Memorial Hospital Association, Inc., finding appellant, Allen County Department of Public Welfare, liable for the costs of the hospital care. This appeal was then perfected by the Allen County Department of Public Welfare from that judgment.

The facts are these: On May 7, 1966, one Robert Carl Owens, Sr. was involved in an automobile accident in Delaware County and was admitted to Ball Memorial Hospital on that day. Mr. Owens was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital and remained unconscious until May 21, 1966. He remained in the hospital until July 3, 1966. The reasonable cost for this period of hospitalization and care was four thousand two hundred seventy-two dollars ($4,272.00). It further appears from the evidence before us that Ball Memorial Hospital (appellant) consulted with Mrs. Owens, the wife of Robert Carl Owens, Sr., on May 7, 1966, to determine whether or not there was insurance to pay for the hospital expenses. Mrs. Owens was at that time unable to indicate whether there was insurance covering the hospital expenses. It was not until May 12, 1966 that Ball Memorial Hospital was again able to locate Mrs. Owens and she then informed the hospital that there was no insurance. On May 12, 1966 the appellee-hospital mailed a notification of Mr. Owens' indigency to the Delaware County Department of Public Welfare.

The indigency of Mr. Owens and the finding that at the time of the accident he was a resident of Allen County are not being disputed. The sole issue raised is whether appellee, Ball Memorial Hospital, under the circumstances duly notified the department of public welfare of the county in which the indigent was injured 'within seventy-two hours,' as required by Burns' Ind.Stat.Anno. § 52--1146, 1969 Cum.Supp. If this inquiry is answered in the affirmative, then pursuant to said statute the appellant, Allen County Department of Public Welfare, would be liable for the hospital costs as the resident county of the indigent.

Burns' § 52--1146, supra, reads as follows:

'Indigents--Admittance to hospital of injured or ill non-residents--Notification of county department of public welfare--Investigation--Report by department--Cost of care to county of residence--Exception--'Indigent person' defined.--On and after the effective date of this act (§§ 52--1146--52--1150), in the event any indigent person is injured or in the even any indigent person who is a non-resident of this state becomes ill in any county of this state, any hospital to which such indigent person is admitted for care or any physicion furnishing medical services to such indigent person shall within seventy-two (72) hours, not counting holidays or weekends, report such matter to the department of public welfare of the county in which the person is injured or becomes ill. The department shall promptly complete an investigation to determine the legal residence, establish need and determine eligibility for the payment of the cost of medical or hospital care for such indigent person and shall promptly report its findings to the reporting hospital or physician.

'The cost of any such medical or hospital care arising out of such illness or accident shall be borne by the county of the legal residence of the indigent person: Provided, That in situations where it is determined that the indigent person has no legal residence in any county of this state or where the legal residence of the indigent person is not determined, the cost of any such medical, hospital care and the cost of transportation to the place of treatment arising out of the illness or accident shall be borne by the county in which the indigent person is injured or become(s) ill. The cost of the medical, hospital care and the cost of transportation to the place of treatment shall be paid out of any money appropriated to the county welfare department. For the purpose of this act the term 'indigent person' shall mean a person without financial resources to pay for such medical or hospital care. (Acts 1965, ch. 172, § 1, p. 302.)' (Emphasis added)

The appellant, Allen County Department of Public Welfare, contends that the hospital was required to notify the county welfare department within seventy-two hours after the admission of Mr. Owens into the hospital as a condition precedent to recovery, and this the hospital failed to do. The appellee-hospital, on the other hand, urges that the seventy-two hours should not begin to run until the hospital had reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Owens was indigent, which occurred on May 12, 1966, when it...

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