Foote v. Community Hospital of Beloit
| Citation | 195 Kan. 385,405 P.2d 423 |
| Decision Date | 09 September 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 44133,44133 |
| Parties | Doctor John J. FOOTE, Appellee, v. The COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF BELOIT, Kansas, a Corporation, and some twenty-five individuals, named as defendants as being the Board of Directors of the Community Hospital, Beloit, Kansas, Appellants. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Kansas |
Syllabus by the Court
1. By statute (K.S.A. 65-431) the board of directors of a hospital is given plenary power to select its professional staff.
2. A by-law of a private hospital which provides for investigation and recommendation by the medical staff of an applicant for membership on the medical staff with final action to be taken on such application by the board of directors of the hospital is reasonable and in harmony with the statutory power of appointment of professional staff members by the board of directors and does not constitute an unlawful delegation of power by such board.
3. The record on appeal in an action in mandamus by a doctor of medicine to compel his admittance to the medical staff of a hospital, wherein the board of directors took final action in rejecting such application for admittance in accordance with the provision of its by-laws, as set forth in the preceding syllabus, examined and held, the trial court erred in sustaining applicant doctor's motion for summary judgment, and there being no material fact issue, the hospital's motion for summary judgment should be sustained.
Tweed W. Ross, Beloit, argued the cause, and was on the brief for appellants.
Frank C. Baldwin, Concordia, argued the cause, and Clarence Paulsen, Dean L. Gibson, and William B. Buechel, Concordia, were with him on the brief for appellee.
Lester M. Goodell, Marlin S. Casey, Ernest J. Rice, Murray F. Hardesty, Glenn D. Cogswell, Gerald L. Goodell, Wayne T. Stratton, Robert E. Edmonds, Arthur E. Palmer, and Thomas E. Wright, Topeka, and Kirke W. Dale and Donald Hickman, Arkansas City, were on the brief amici curiae for Kansas Hospital Ass'n and Kansas Medical Soc HARMAN, Commissioner.
Plaintiff, a doctor of medicine brought this action in mandamus to compel his admittance as a surgeon on the medical staff of defendant hospital. The parties stipulated as to the facts and each side moved for summary judgment. The trial court sustained plaintiff's motion and directed defendant to admit plaintiff forthwith to its medical staff, from which order defendant has appealed.
It appears that plaintiff, who is duly licensed to practice medicine and surgery in Kansas and whose educational and internship qualifications are not questioned, became a resident of Beloit in September, 1963, and immediately made application for membership as a surgeon on defendant's medical staff which application was rejected by defendant acting through its board of directors.
The defendant is a private non-profit hospital initially endowed by what is known as the Commonwealth Fund. It receives no support from taxation but is tax-exempt and it solicits funds from the general public for its operation and maintenance. Payment is required of all patients able to pay; welfare patients are admitted with payment made therefor by the municipality in which the patients reside. The defendant's agreement with the Commonwealth Fund requires that it be so operated 'as to secure the approval of the American College of Surgeons for this class of hospital' and that 'the governing body of the hospital must delegate the responsibility of the medical functions to the medical staff, including recommendations as to professional qualifications of all who practice in the hospital', with staff appointments to be made by the governing body. Defendant's by-laws pertinent to medical staff appointments provide as follows:
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Ascherman v. San Francisco Medical Society
...615, 616, 147 N.E. 219; Shulman v. Washington Hospital Center (D.C., D.C. 1963) 222 F.Supp. 59, 63; Foote v. Community Hospital of Beloit (1965) 195 Kan. 385, 388, 405 P.2d 423, 425; State ex rel. Sams v. Ohio Valley General Hospital Ass'n (1965) 149 W.Va. 229, 237--239, 140 S.E.2d 457, 462......
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State ex rel. Walker v. Bergman, 61456
...without impinging on its residents' right to choose their personal physicians. Crestview Manor cites Foote v. Community Hospital of Beloit, 195 Kan. 385, 405 P.2d 423 (1965), to support its contention that an ICF has authority to exclude a licensed physician from the facility. Foote, howeve......
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Kansas State Bd. of Healing Arts v. Foote
...decision to this court, which reversed, directing that the hospital's motion for summary judgment be sustained (Foote v. Community Hospital of Beloit, 195 Kan. 385, 405 P.2d 423), thus terminating appellee's surgical practice in that Pending determination of the foregoing appeal, and genera......
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Woodard v. Porter Hospital, Inc.
...authorities to the same effect in Shulman v. Washington Hospital Center, 222 F.Supp. 59 (D.C.D.C. 1963). See, Foot v. Community Hospital of Beloit, 195 Kan. 385, 405 P.2d 423. Generally, a court of equity will not interfere with the internal management of a hospital but will leave questions......