Joseph v. Passaic Hospital Ass'n

• Decision Date: 13 May 1955
• Docket Number: No. C--1957,C--1957
• Citation: 35 N.J.Super. 450,114 A.2d 317
• Parties: Morris JOSEPH, Plaintiff, v. PASSAIC HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION, a corporation of the State of New Jersey, etal., Defendants. . Chancery Division
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court

Page 450

35 N.J.Super. 450

114 A.2d 317

Morris JOSEPH, Plaintiff, v. PASSAIC HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION, a corporation of the State of New Jersey, etal., Defendants.

No. C--1957.

Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division.

May 13, 1955.

Eisenstein & Eisenstein, Palisades Park, (Harry Green, Little Silver, of counsel), for plaintiff.

Van Riper & Belmont, Newark, for defendants.

GRIMSHAW, J.S.C.

The defendant Passaic Hospital Association is a corporation not for pecuniary profit which has for its purpose, 'the care, cure, nurture and maintenance of sick, injured, infirm, aged, indigent, deaf, dumb, blind, idiotic or insane persons, and of orphans, half orphans and destitute children, and the education of nurses.' To carry out the purposes, the corporation maintains a hospital under the name of Passaic General Hospital. The income of the defendant corporation is derived from fees paid by patients and contributions from charitably inclined persons and corporations. The City of Passaic pays to the defendant the sum of $18,000 annually for care and treatment given to indigent residents of the City of Passaic.

The Board of Governors of the Passaic Hospital Association is entrusted with the management and control of the hospital. The members of that board are named as defendants as are several members of the medical staff.

The provisions of the constitution of the Passaic Hospital Association relating to the medical staff are as follows:

'Article VIII

'Medical Staff

'Section 1. Medical Board Membership and Organization.

'There shall be a Medical Board, consisting of seven members, of whom six shall be selected from the Medical Staff and one shall be the President of the Medical Staff.

'The Medical Board may adopt such rules and regulations as it deems proper for it organization and function, these rules and regulations to be subject to the approval of the Board of Governors and shall not be inconsistent with this Constitution.

'Section 2. Purpose and Responsibility.

'The Medical Board shall be responsible to the Board of Governors for the professional care of all patients, and it shall, therefore, direct and control the medical and surgical practices of the Hospital in all their branches, subject to such rules and regulations as are prescribed for the admission and care and discharge of patients.

'The Medical Board shall recommend to the Board of Governors annually, prior to the December meeting, the physicians to constitute the Medical Staff for the ensuing calendar year.

'Section 5. Joint Committee.

'The Medical Board shall appoint three of its members who shall meet with three representatives of the Board of Governors and the Director of the Hospital for the purpose of discussing matters concerning the Hospital service and to make such recommendations as they may decide upon to the Board of Governors. This Joint Committee, whose Chairman shall be appointed by the President of the Board of Governors, shall meet at least four times during each year, and oftener at the call of its Chairman.

'Section 6. Medical Staff.

'There shall be an organized medical staff composed of qualified physicians privileged to work in the Hospital and to serve the Hospital in the professional care of its patients.

'The Medical Board shall recommend to the Board of Governors the membership of the Medical Staff with the assignments of service. Appointments on the Medical Staff shall be made for a period of one year or until the end of the calendar year of the Hospital. Appointments on the Medical Staff will be made annually at the December meeting of the Board of Governors. Final responsibility for appointments or cancellation of appointments rests with the Board of Governors.

'The Medical Staff shall be divided into the following types of membership:

'Emeritus, Consultant, Senior Attending,

'Associate Attending, Assistant Attending,

'Clinical Assistants.

'Section 11. Terminations and Removals.

'The active service of any member of the Medical Staff shall terminate automatically on his sixty-fifth birthday, at which time such member shall be automatically appointed to the Emeritus Staff; and any such member may voluntarily retire at the age of sixty years at his own request and shall be eligibel for election to the Emeritus Staff.

'Any member of the Medical Staff, or the Courtesy Staff, may be removed at a regular meeting or at a special meeting of the Board of Governors by a vote of three-fourths of the Governors present, after a conference between representatives of the Medical Board and the Board of Governors, and, after the member in question has been given an opportunity to be heard by the Board of Governors, if he so desires.

'Final responsibility for appointment, cancellation of appointment or failure to renew an appointment shall rest with the Board of Governors.'

The by-laws of the medical staff having reference to its composition and the qualification of the medical staff, are as follows:

'Article II

'Organization

'Section 1.

'The Medical Staff shall be composed of Physicians and Surgeons elected annually by the Staff, whose election shall, upon the recommendation of the Medical Board, be presented to the Board of Governors for appointment to serve the hospital in the professional care of its patients.

'Section 2.

'The Medical Staff shall be divided into the following divisions or types of membership: Emeritus, Consulting, Senior Attending, Associate Attending, Assistant Attending and Clinical Assistants. Only residents or practitioners of the communities served by the hospital shall be eligible for election to the Medical Staff.

'A. The Senior Attending Staff shall consist of physicians duly elected who have been appointed by the Board of Governors to the care and responsibility of ward and free patients on the various services.

'A Senior Attending physician shall be eligible for election to the Medical Board.

'B. The Associate Staff shall consist of physicians duly elected and appointed who have served with merit on the assistant staff and who have been selected by their respective departments for advancement to the Associate Staff.

'Associate Attendings shall have such active ward duties as are assigned to them by their Senior Attendings.

'C. The Assistant Staff shall consist of physicians duly elected and appointed to serve in the capacity of assistants to members of the Attending and Associate Attending Staffs.

'D. The Clinical Assistants shall consist of physicians recommended by their sections and duly elected by the Medical Staff and appointed by the Board of Governors to serve in the Out Patient Department and to render such other services as the Director of their department may desire.

'E. The Consulting Staff shall consist of recognized specialists who, when duly elected and appointed, shall upon request give their services gratuitously in the care of ward and free patients.

'F. The Emeritus Staff shall consist of those physicians who, having completed their active service are elected or appointed to this honorary position.

'(1) They may be eligible to the Medical Board.

'(2) They may be eligible to the Consulting Staff provided they are recognized specialists.

'(3) They shall have no regular duties or responsibilities in the care of ward patients, except in cases of national emergency when their services may be requested by the Staff.

'(4) They shall have full voting privileges in the staff and section meetings.

'Section 6. Terminations and Removals.

'A. The active service of any member shall terminate automatically on his sixty-fifth birthday, at which time said member shall automatically be appointed to the Emeritus Staff, and any member may voluntarily retire at the age of sixty years at his own request, and may be eligible for election to the Emeritus Staff.

'B. Appointments to the active Medical Staff shall be made by the Board of Governors on recommendation of the Medical Board on an annual basis, and subject to review each year by the Governors. Before a man fails of reappointment, he shall be given an opportunity to be heard by the Board of Governors if he so desires. In all such matters, the Board of Governors, through the Joint Committee, shall properly confer with the Medical Board, but the action of the Board of Governors shall be final.'

The plaintiff is a physician and surgeon of many years' experience. For a number of years he was associated with the hospital in various capacities and during part of that time he was the senior attending surgeon on the active medical staff. In 1952 the plaintiff resigned from the active staff and was thereupon appointed to the emeritus staff. He was not reappointed for the year 1954. As a result, this litigation was initiated.

The plaintiff charges that the denial of reappointment to the emeritus staff was illegal and void as being in violation of the constitution of the defendant corporation. He charges further that the withholding from him of the use of the hospital facilities has seriously impaired his ability to earn a living and is a violation of his constitutional rights. He seeks a judgment restraining the defendants from interfering with his use of the hospital for the treatment of his patients. He also seeks a judgment compelling the defendants to reappoint him to the emeritus staff and to accord to him all of the privileges flowing from membership on that staff.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings was made by the...