Mercy Hospital, Inc. v. Carr
| Decision Date | 11 June 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 73--1494,73--1494 |
| Citation | 297 So.2d 598 |
| Parties | MERCY HOSPITAL, INC., Appellant, v. Henry R. CARR, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Simons & Simons, Miami, for appellant.
Carr & Emory, Miami, James A. Baccus, Miami, for appellee.
Before PEARSON, CARROLL and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
Plaintiff-appellant seeks review of an adverse final summary judgment in this action to recover damages for services rendered.
On December 31, 1968, defendant's wife was admitted as a patient to plaintiff, Mercy Hospital. At the time of her admission, defendant-appellee Henry Carr executed a written 'Authorization' to the appellant Mercy Hospital which authorized the hospital to fill in the blanks on another form entitled 'Agreement to Pay Unpaid Balance' also signed by the appellee. The above authorization provided that all charges are in accordance with existing standard and current rates as set forth in regular schedules which are available for inspection and review. The 'Agreement to Pay Unpaid Balance' contained a provision for 7% Interest on all sums past due and also a provision for defendant's obligation to pay attorneys' fees and costs if collection procedures had to be instituted. Several days after defendant's wife was discharged from the hospital, a statement for charges in the sum of $8,298.70 was rendered to Mr. Carr, who objected to the charges and demanded without success to see the regular schedules containing the standard current rates referred to by plaintiff hospital. Thereafter, plaintiff filed a complaint against the defendant and sought therein to recover the $8,298.70. Subsequent thereto, on June 20, 1973 plaintiff filed an amended complaint seeking alternatively (1) damages for services rendered, (2) judgment on the hereinabove instruments signed by the defendant for the amount of the charges, plus 7% Interest and attorneys' fees, and (3) judgment on an account stated. In response thereto, defendant-appellant filed a motion to dismiss and as grounds therefor alleged that the amended complaint failed to state a cause of action, the action was barred by the three-year statute of limitations, and that an incomplete instrument cannot be the basis of any legal claim against the defendant who never agreed to the balance claimed by plaintiff. Both parties then moved for summary judgment. After a hearing was held thereon and the parties submitted respective memoranda of law, the trial judge granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant. Plaintiff Mercy Hospital...
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Herrera v. JFK Med. Ctr. Ltd.
...described the charge master as a “complicated and unobtainable master charge list containing hundreds of items”); Mercy Hospital v. Carr, 297 So.2d 598 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1974) (holding that although plaintiff was liable for medical services rendered he was not bound by the amount of the charges......
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Drake By and Through Fletcher v. Island Community Church, Inc.
...elements to be met in determining whether a contract is founded on a written instrument within the meaning of Mercy Hospital, Inc. v. Carr, 297 So.2d 598 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). Therefore, I would find that the trial court correctly dismissed this count and that the five year statute of limitat......
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Colomar v. Mercy Hosp., Inc.
...of an open pricing contract to be reasonable. See Payne v. Humana Hosp., 661 So.2d 1239, 1242 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); Mercy Hosp. v. Carr, 297 So.2d 598, 599 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1974). While the Court agreed with Plaintiff that an open pricing term (like the price of Mercy's services in the contract......
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Giacalone v. Helen Ellis Memorial Hosp.
...be bound by unreasonable charges in an agreement to pay charges in accordance with "standard and current rates." Mercy Hosp. v. Carr, 297 So.2d 598, 599 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). When a contract fails to fix a price furthermore, a reasonable price is implied. See F.L. Stitt & Co. v. Powell, 94 Fl......