Mercy Medical Center, Inc. v. Douglas County

• Decision Date: 14 February 1977
• Citation: 28 Or.App. 557,559 P.2d 1286
• Parties: MERCY MEDICAL CENTER, INC., Appellant, v. DOUGLAS COUNTY, a Municipal Corporation, Respondent.
• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals

Page 1286

559 P.2d 1286

28 Or.App. 557

MERCY MEDICAL CENTER, INC., Appellant, v. DOUGLAS COUNTY, a Municipal Corporation, Respondent.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted Jan. 24, 1977.

Denied Feb. 14, 1977.

Edward M. Murphy and Murphy, Anderson & Cegavske, Roseburg, filed the brief for appellant.

Paul Nolte, County Counsel, Roseburg, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was William L. Lasswell, Dist. Atty., Roseburg.

Before SCHWAB, C.J., and TANZER and JOHNSON, JJ.

TANZER, Judge.

This is an action by a hospital to recover from the county part of the cost of hospitalization of a prisoner of the sheriff. The hospital appeals from a judgment for the county.

The facts are agreed. Charles E. Fortney was shot by a Douglas County deputy sheriff while he was in the act of burgling a school building. He was taken to Mercy Hospital with injuries to the spinal cord and was in the hospital from May 28, 1975, to July 29, 1975. On his admission to the hospital, he was in the custody of the sheriff. The defendant admits that he remained in custody until June 20, 1975 and it has paid for his care up to that date. The plaintiff contends that he was in custody throughout his entire hospitalization.

Sometime before June 20, 1975, the attending physician asked the plaintiff to endeavor to move the patient to Good Samaritan Hospital, and Good Samaritan Hospital was also contacted by the Douglas County Sheriff. Prior to June 20, telephone calls were going back and forth between Good Samaritan Hospital, the Sheriff's Office and Mercy Hospital with respect to whether Douglas County would assume the cost of Mr. Fortney's hospitalization. The district judge had been informed of these negotiations either by the sheriff or the district attorney and also of the possibility that Mr. Fortney might be removed to Good Samaritan Hospital. On June 20, 1975, a magistrate came to Fortney's hospital room, arraigned him, and then wrote out a statement as follows:

'To Mercy Hospital--

'Charles E. Fortney, First, has been duly arraigned on a charge of Burglary in the First Degree and I have released Mr. Fortney on his own recognizance and he may be transported anywhere in the state of Oregon for medical purposes.

'/s/ Carl M. Felker

District Judge'

At the time of his arraignment, Fortney was completely paralyzed except for his arms. A lung was collapsed, he had a fever, he had no bowel or bladder control, and he was suffering from great pain. He had never been placed under armed guard, and he never requested a release on his own recognizance. No release criteria were expressly applied and no release agreement was ever signed. Fortney was not sent to Good Samaritan Hospital because the defendant refused to approve payment therefor. He remained in the hospital until July 29, 1975, when he left it to make a court appearance.

The liability of the county for the cost of medical care of the prisoners of the sheriff is established by ORS 169.140 and 169.150, which provide:

'The keeper of each local correctional facility shall furnish and keep clean the necessary bedding and clothing for all prisoners in his custody, and shall supply them with wholesome food, fuel and necessary medical aid.'

'The charges and expenses for safekeeping and maintaining all persons duly committed to the local correctional facility of the county for trial, sentenced to imprisonment in the county local correctional facility, or committed for the nonpayment of any fine or for any contempt, shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be paid out of the treasury of the county. The account of the keeper shall be first allowed by the county court or board of county commissioners of the county from which the prisoner was...