Gregory Chandler on Hospital Law

Greetings:

An interesting case.

The Pennsylvania Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund (Mcare) was not required to provide professional liability coverage to a hospital for a claim brought by a psychiatric unit patient following an injury the patient allegedly suffered at the hands of another of the hospital's patients. The psychiatric unit patient sustained an injury as the result of a tort by a fellow patient, and not by a health care provider. The fact that there might have been a secondary tort committed by the hospital with regard to supervising the fellow patient was of no matter because he, not the hospital or its agents, was the instrumentality that caused the psychiatric unit patent's injury.

The case is Polyclinic Medical Center v. Medical Care Availability, 2001 WL 9270 (Pennsylvania)

Gregory Chandler, Attorney at Law