Where plaintiff filed an HCLA case against a hospital that was a governmental entity, but only alleged negligence by doctors who were not employees of the hospital, summary judgment under the GTLA was affirmed.
In Howell v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority d/b/a Erlanger Health System, No. E2021-01197-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 5295794 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 7, 2022), plaintiff went to defendant hospital for treatment for a laceration on his foot. Plaintiff was treated by a medical resident and a medical student, who were both under the supervision of the same physician. Neither the supervising physician, medical resident, or medical student were employees of defendant hospital.
Plaintiff filed this suit asserting negligence against the medical resident and supervising physician because the resident allegedly failed to remove fiberglass shreds from his cut before doing stitches, which led to serious medical issues. Defendant moved for summary judgment, and after several responses and replies, the trial court granted summary judgment on the basis that “[defendant] is a governmental entity and that neither [the supervising physician] nor [the medical resident] are employees of [defendant],” so defendant “could not be held vicariously liable for the actions of [the supervising physician or medical resident] under the GTLA.” This ruling was affirmed on appeal.
Pursuant to the GTLA, a governmental entity may be liable for the “negligent actions of governmental employees acting within the scope of their employment.” (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-205). The issue here, however, was that the doctors that plaintiff claimed had acted negligently were not employees of defendant hospital. The only expert testimony presented by plaintiff asserted that the supervising physician and medical resident had failed to meet the standard of care; it did not “allege that [defendant hospital] or its nurses deviated from the standard of care.”
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