15.7 1. For Negligence Of Hospital Staff

• Jurisdiction: New York

1. For Negligence of Hospital Staff

A hospital may be held concurrently liable with a private practitioner for the independent negligence of the hospital’s medical staff.³²¹

In Frye v. Montefiore Medical Center,³²² the pregnant patient was referred to the hospital by her private attending obstetrician for evaluation of diabetes. She was seen by a resident who documented that he would be discussing her care with the director of the hospital’s perinatology department. Later in the pregnancy she was referred again to the hospital’s “Diabetes in Pregnancy Program” where she was seen by an attending perinatologist who was employed by the hospital. On its motion for summary judgment, the hospital argued that neither it nor its employed providers made any ultimate decisions about the patient’s obstetrical management, which was being managed by her own private obstetricians. The perinatologist reviewed a sonogram image ordered by the private physician. Based at least in part on the deposition testimony of the private obstetrician that the patient was referred to the hospital specifically for aid in managing her diabetes, the court found that there was a triable issue of fact about whether the hospital was “co-managing” the patient’s pregnancy and therefore potentially directly liable for claimed injuries.

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Notes:

^[321] . See Pearce v. Klein, 293 A.D.2d 593, 741 N.Y.S.2d 89 (2d Dep’t 2002); Barnes v. Sheehan Mem. Hosp., 275 A.D.2d 1028, 714 N.Y.S.2d 917 (4th Dep’t 2000); Gerner v. Long Is...