Clark v. Mobile County Hospital Bd.
Decision Date | 04 April 1963 |
Docket Number | 1 Div. 904 |
Citation | 275 Ala. 26,151 So.2d 750 |
Parties | Francis CLARK v. MOBILE COUNTY HOSPITAL BOARD. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Vincent F. Kilborn and Benjamin H. Kilborn, Mobile, for appellant.
Armbrecht, Jackson, McConnell & DeMouy, Mobile, for appellee.
Appellant filed suit against the 'Mobile County Hospital Board, sometimes known as Mobile County Hospital, and sometimes known as Mobile General Hospital, a corporation,' to recover damages for personal injuries allegedly received by him while a paying patient in said hospital.
Defendant's demurrer to the complaint, and each count thereof, was sustained. Plaintiff declining to plead further, a judgment of nonsuit was rendered, from which plaintiff prosecutes this appeal.
Appellant states in his brief that 'the sole question involved is whether or not the Board is immune from suit by a paying patient for injuries received by said patient as a result of the negligence of the agents, servants, or employees of the Board.' It is our view that this question must be answered in the negative for the reason that the Board , is a public agency performing a governmental function, thus rendering it immune from liability for torts.
An understanding of the general nature of the Board may be obtained by reading the capital of Act No. 105, viz.:
'To create a Hospital Board in all counties of this state having a population of not less than 225,000 nor more than 400,000 inhabitants, according to the last or any subsequent Federal decennial census, provide for the appointment of the members of said Board, their terms of office and compensation, to require said counties and all municipalities located within said counties to make payments to said Hospital Board to aid in the operation of a hospital in said counties and to provide care for charity patients, to require said Hospital Board to operate a hospital in said counties and to prescribe the powers and duties of said Hospital Board, and to provide for meetings of said Board and a fiscal year for the operations of said Hospital Board.'
There is no dispute that the Board is a public agency created for the purpose of providing public hospital facilities within the county on a non-profit basis. As to which unit of government it is an arm, instrument or agency, there is no need to decide. The decisive questions are: (1) Whether Act No. 105, as amended, provides for the performance by the Board of a 'proprietary,' as opposed to a 'governmental,' function in operating the hospital; (2) Whether the provision in the Act that the Board may 'sue or be sued' constitutes a waiver of any immunity the Board might otherwise have against tort claims.
(1)
Each count of the complaint alleges that the Board was operating the hospital for the treatment of both paying and charity patients. This was in accord with the requirements of Act No. 105.
It has long been recognized in this state that the operation by a county of a hospital where needy citizens may receive care and medical attention is the performance of a governmental function. The latest statement of this principle is the following from Garrett v. Escambia County Hospital Board, 266 Ala. 201, 203, 94 So.2d 762, 763, viz.:
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Loughner v. Allegheny County
...279, 118 N.W.2d 795 (1962); and Myers v. Genesee County Auditor, 375 Mich. 1, 133 N.W.2d 190 (1965). But see Clark v. Mobile County Hospital Board, 275 Ala. 26, 151 So.2d 750 (1963); and Boyer v. Iowa High School Athletic Assn., 256 Iowa 337, 127 N.W.2d 606 (1964).4 It should be noted that ......
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Health Care Auth. for Baptist Health v. Davis, 1090084.
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