Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital

• Decision Date: 30 June 1964
• Docket Number: Gen. No. 10501
• Parties: Dorrence Kenneth DARLING II, a minor, by his Father and Next Friend, Dorrence Kenneth Darling, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHARLESTON COMMUNITY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, a corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 149

200 N.E.2d 149

50 Ill.App.2d 253

Dorrence Kenneth DARLING II, a minor, by his Father and Next

Friend, Dorrence Kenneth Darling, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHARLESTON COMMUNITY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, a corporation,

Defendant-Appellant.

Gen. No. 10501.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

June 30, 1964.

Craig & Craig, Mattoon (Jack E. Horsley and John P. Ewart, Mattoon, Wayne O. Shuey, Charleston, of counsel) for appellant.

John Alan Appleman, Urbana, Stanford S. Meyer, Belleville, for appellee.

CROW, Presiding Justice.

This action was brought by the plaintiff Dorrence Kenneth Darling II, a minor, by his father and next friend, Dorrence Kenneth Darling, to recover damages allegedly occasioned by the alleged negligence of the defendant, Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, an Illinois not for profit corporation, in the furnishing of hospital services to the plaintiff. Originally, there was another defendant, Dr. John R. Alexander, a medical doctor,--Count I being against the Hospital, and Count II against the Doctor. The ad damnum in each Count was $207,430.00. The injured plaintiff had ultimately lost one of his legs. The defendant's motions for directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff's evidence and of all the evidence were denied. The plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence was allowed as to the issue of contributory negligence and denied in all other respects. The jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiff for $150,000.00. Prior to trial the plaintiff had settled with the other defendant, Dr. Alexander, the plaintiff receiving $40,000.00 in consideration of a covenant not to sue Dr. Alexander, and he had been dismissed as a defendant. The defendant hospital's Motion for set-off in that respect, to which there was no objection, was allowed, after the verdict. The defendant filed a post trial motion in arrest of judgment, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, for a new trial, and for correction of the amount of the verdict and judgment. This was denied except as to the credit for the foregoing $40,000.00. The post trial motion, briefly, urged the complaint, as amended at the trial, did not state a cause of action and is not sufficient to sustain a judgment for the plaintiff; there is no competent evidence, with its intendments most favorable to the plaintiff, to make a prima facie case against the defendant; there were errors in the voir dire examination of the jury, the verdict is clearly and palpably against the manifest weight of the evidence, the amount of the verdict is excessive and indicates passion, prejudice, and sympathy, the defendant's motions for directed verdict should have been allowed, the jury did not deliberate long enough, the Court erred in permitting the plaintiff's amendments to the complaint at the close of the plaintiff's evidence, the ad damnum should have been reduced to $100,000.00, there were errors in the rulings on evidence, the issue of contributory negligence should have gone to the jury, there were errors in the instructions, and plaintiff's counsel abused the privilege of argument; and the amount of the verdict should be corrected to $100,000, or alternatively, there should be a $40,000.00 credit on the verdict. The Court reduced the verdict to $100,000.00, and entered judgment for $110,000.00, from which this appeal is taken by the defendant hospital. The defendant hospital had made a motion to reduce the ad damnum of Count I to $100,000.00, alleging it was incorporated under the General Not for Profit Corporation Act of Illinois, it is operated as a charitable and scientific organization not for profit, and the only funds available to satisfy any judgment against it, other than trust funds held for specific uses and funds held for expansion, improvements, developments and such hospital purposes as the board of Directors deems necessary, are the procees of an insurance policy, the limits of which are $100,000.00. This was supported by the affidavit of the hospital administrator, a copy of the liability policy, and a copy of the articles of Incorporation. That motion uncontroverted, was denied. The post trial motion, inter alia, had asked that the verdict and judgment be reduced to $100,000.00 for the same reasons, which motion, as indicated, was denied in that regard. The defendant's notice of appeal prays that we reverse the judgment and enter judgment for it, notwithstanding the verdict, or arrest the judgment, or allow a new trial, or reduce the judgment to $100,000.00.

The trial required approximately two weeks. The evidence was extensive, and the record, abstracts, and briefs here are lengthy.

On Saturday, November 5, 1960, the plaintiff, Dorrence Kenneth Darling II, was a student at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. He was a member of the football team, and on that afternoon he was playing defensive left halfback during a game. A member of the opposing team threw a block at him, and he sustained a broken right leg. He was carried from the field on a stretcher to the field house and received emergency care from Dr. William Heath, a doctor associated with the University. He was then taken to the defendant Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, in Charleston.

On November 5, 1960 the Charleston Hospital had a forty-six bed capacity. It was a member of the American Hospital Association and was accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation. It was licensed by the State of Illinois. It had been open since September, 1957. The following hospital personnel were available in the medical-surgical area during the shifts designated:

1. 7:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. shift:

Two registered nurses--one was a supervisor and the other a medicine nurse--three licensed practical nurses, one graduate practical nurse, a female aid and a male aid.

2. 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift:

A hospital supervisor, two registered nurses, a medicine nurse, three licensed practical nurses and two male aids.

3. 11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m. shift:

One registered nurse, two licensed practical nurses, and one aid. On five nights out of the week, there was one additional registered nurse.

There was also a surgical department which had a registered nurse, a licensed practical nurse, and a female aid. The surgery and emergency room was on a call-back basis during the shifts from 3:00 p. m. to 11:00 p. m. and 11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m. A registered nurse and a licensed practical nurse were subject to call during those shifts. The hospital also had a laboratory which was approved by the State of Illinois Department of Health. During the 7:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. shift, there were two full time technicians, certified as American Medical Technicians, and one part time technician. During the shifts from 3:00 p. m. to 11:00 p. m. and 11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m., the lab personnel were on a call-back basis. Many tests could be performed and carried out in the laboratory. Also, the laboratory facilities of the Mattoon Memorial Hospital, Mattoon, and the Burnham City Hospital, Champaign, were available to the Charleston Hospital. Also available was a registered pathologist at the Burnham City Hospital. There was no orthopedic medical staff at the defendant hospital. There was no designated surgical staff, though at a medical staff meeting November 9, 1960, after the plaintiff's injury and while he was in the hospital, a certain other doctor had been appointed Chairman of the Surgical Division. Dr. Alexander had been 'qualified' by approval of the Board of Directors of the Hospital to perform surgery. There was an active medical staff. There was a consulting medical staff. There were two orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Ross and Dr. Peterson, of Champaign, on the consulting staff. The Medical Staff had an executive committee and a medical records committee. In evidence are photographs of certain parts of certain walls of the hospital indicating a sign 'Medical-Surgical-Nursing', and also a list of the various laboratory tests available at the Hospital.

The plaintiff was brought into the emergency room of the Charleston Hospital sometime between 3:00 p. m. and 4:00 p. m. Lelia Carroll, a surgical scrub nurse (sterile nurse who assists doctors), had completed her shift at 3:15 p. m., but had not left the hospital. Patricia Jenkins, the Director of Nurses, found Miss Carroll before she had an opportunity to leave, and asked her to stay and assist in the emergency room. Dr. John Alexander, a graduate of the University of Illinois, was called and asked to come to the hospital. Dr. Alexander had been on the medical staff since the new hospital was started, and before that he was on the old Charleston Hospital staff. On this day, he was the doctor on emergency call. He examined the leg and had an x-ray taken. He diagnosed a comminuted (multiple) fracture of the right tibia and fibula (what he described as a 'bad break'). Mary LaVan, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, was called to the emergency room. Also present in the emergency room, besides Mrs. LaVan, Doctor Alexander, and Miss Carroll, were Mrs. Bezruki, a nurse, and Steve Goodson, an orderly. Miss Carroll filled out a form entitled 'Authority to Operate', and the injured plaintiff signed it while in the emergency room. He was then anesthetized. Miss Carroll asked Doctor Alexander if he wanted any stockinette (knitted cloth, like a stocking) to use under the cast, and he said 'No'. While Steve Goodson held the plaintiff's leg, Dr. Alexander wrapped muslin around it or part of it. Pursuant to Dr. Alexander's instructions, Miss Carroll applied traction by holding the patient's right thigh and pulling the leg towards the body. At the same time, Dr. Alexander applied countertraction by pulling the end of the patient's foot away from his body. When Dr. Alexander was satisfied that he had proper traction, he asked Mrs. Bezruki to take the position of Miss Carroll, and Steve Goodson to take his...