Title: Morton v. JACKSON HOSP. AND CLINIC, INC.
Citation: 548 So. 2d 1015
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: July 21, 1989

548 So. 2d 1015 (1989)
Allen F. MORTON
v.
JACKSON HOSPITAL AND CLINIC, INC.
87-926, 87-1089.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
July 21, 1989.
*1016 C. Neal Pope and R. Timothy Morrison of Pope, Kellogg, McGlamry, Kilpatrick &amp; Morrison, Phenix City, and J. Paul Lowery, Montgomery, for appellant.
Thomas H. Keene and Robert C. Brock of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston &amp; Garrett, Montgomery, for appellee.
MADDOX, Justice.
The question presented by these appeals is whether a private hospital can be liable for injuries caused by an unprovoked attack by a mental patient, who had been released from the hospital within 24 hours before the attack, on the ground that the hospital had assumed responsibility for the care, treatment, and control of the mental patient.
The plaintiff, Allen F. Morton, brought suit against Jackson Hospital and Clinic and Pendarvis Hunter, a mental patient released from the hospital, based upon an apparently unprovoked attack by Hunter upon him. Morton charged that the hospital was negligent in releasing Hunter. The trial court, finding no duty on the part of the hospital, granted the hospital's motion for summary judgment, and these appeals ensued.
Pendarvis Hunter was released from Jackson Hospital's mental wing on November 5, 1986. On November 6, 1986, in an apparently unprovoked attack, Hunter cut the throat of plaintiff Allen Morton on the sidewalk along South Court Street in Montgomery.[1]
Hunter has a history of mental illness beginning with his stint in the army. He was hospitalized while in the army and subsequent to his discharge moved to Montgomery and enrolled in the day treatment program of the Montgomery Area Mental Health Association. While at his local mental health center, Hunter engaged in a shoving match with another patient; he was then transferred to Jackson Hospital's mental wing. He was voluntarily admitted by Dr. Cecil Prescott,[2] a psychiatrist on the staff at Jackson Hospital. Dr. Prescott diagnosed Hunter as a schizophrenic paranoid type and after a four-day stay recommended that he be transferred to a long-term care facility.
The Veterans' Administration hospital in Tuskegee provisionally accepted Hunter, and he was discharged from Jackson Hospital. However, upon his arrival in Tuskegee, Hunter's records were checked, and he was determined to be ineligible for VA hospitalization. He was readmitted to Jackson and stayed there from October 31, 1986, until his release on November 5, 1986.
Jackson Hospital's mental facility is designed for short-term care only. Ordinarily, patients with serious mental problems are transferred after a few days to long-term care facilities. Dr. Prescott recommended to Hunter's family that they begin involuntary commitment proceedings. Hunter's family, however, decided against involuntary commitment and agreed to keep looking for other facilities. Dr. Prescott *1017 is the only psychiatrist on the staff of Jackson Hospital, and he testified that he was in complete control of the admission and discharge of mental patients. While at Jackson, Hunter was confined to a secluded area intermittently throughout his stay, in an effort to control his inappropriate behavior. He was placed in seclusion from 2:30 p.m. on November 4 until 1:00 p.m. on November 5. He was released later that day.
While at Jackson, Hunter was placed on various drug regimens, although Dr. Prescott testified that he had not been on any one drug long enough to effectuate control of his condition. Hunter was released with several prescriptions and an open letter describing his condition to other possible health care providers. Dr. Prescott testified that he believed the local mental health officials would do follow-up work. The attack occurred the following day.
The first issue presented concerns the relationship between Dr. Prescott and Jackson Hospital. Morton argues that Dr. Prescott was acting as an agent for the hospital during Hunter's treatment and at his discharge, that the hospital cloaked Dr. Prescott with apparent and implied authority to act for the hospital, and that the duty to control Hunter was similar to the duty of one who engages in an inherently dangerous activity, and therefore, that that duty was nondelegable. We need not reach these arguments, due to the insufficiency of the pleadings on the issue of agency.
Robinson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 399 So. 2d 288 (Ala.1981). Morton argues that the complaint, when considered as a whole, adequately raises the issue of agency by including various fictitiously named parties. Specifically, he asks us to look at paragraphs 4 through 8 of the complaint. Paragraphs 4 through 8 read:
These allegations in the complaint do not give Jackson Hospital adequate notice of the agency claim. Clearly, that is the case, because it is quite apparent that the plaintiff knew of Dr. Prescott's role at the time summary judgment was entered. Therefore, we must determine whether there was presented a scintilla of evidence of Jackson Hospital's independent negligence without consideration of whether the acts of Dr. Prescott could be imputed to the hospital.[3]
The elements of negligence are well settled in Alabama. These elements are: (1) the existence of a duty on the part of a defendant; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) an injury to the plaintiff; and (4) the existence of a causal relationship between the defendant's conduct and the plaintiff's injury. Chatman v. City of Prichard, 431 So. 2d 532 (Ala.1983); Alabama Power Co. v. Smith, 409 So. 2d 760 (Ala.1981).
The plaintiff contends that although Hunter was voluntarily admitted to Jackson, the hospital had the duty to bring involuntary commitment proceedings against Hunter. Section 22-52-1(a), Ala.Code 1975, states:
Under the facts of this case, we do not find that Jackson Hospital, a private mental hospital, undertook, or that the law imposed on it, the duty to seek involuntary commitment of its patients needing mental treatment. The evidence is undisputed that the decision to release Hunter was made by Dr. Prescott, and Morton has not presented any evidence linking hospital employees with the decision to discharge.
Morton contends that the duty to file commitment proceedings against Hunter was created by statements contained in an internal policy manual of the hospital. They point us to the section labeled "patient rights." That section provides in part:
"* * * *
This section, even if read liberally, requires only that notice be given to "the patient, patient's family or patient's legal guardian" if a patient refuses treatment. This section does not create an affirmative duty on the part of the hospital to file commitment proceedings.
Morton also argues that a contract executed by Jackson Hospital and the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority created a duty on the hospital to detain Hunter and seek his commitment. However, a careful reading of that contract shows that the only provision concerning involuntary commitment provides that the Mental Health Authority bears the responsibility for making the arrangements. There has also been no showing that Hunter was admitted to the hospital pursuant to that contract other than a showing of his referral from the Authority and his Medicaid status. Dr. Prescott and the hospital dealt with Hunter's family, not with the Authority, in formulating his treatment.
Morton's argument that the filing of the petition for commitment would have effectively detained Hunter is also erroneous. Section 22-52-7, Code of Alabama 1975, which provides for the treatment of those who await hearings on commitment, states:
Once again, it is important to note that Dr. Prescott was the only psychiatrist on the staff at Jackson Hospital and that *1020 he determined that Hunter was not dangerous. The statute calls for the "willing consent" of a licensed medical doctor to admit a patient for temporary treatment. That was clearly absent in this case. Although it is possible that Hunter might have been placed in the jail or in another hospital, Dr. Prescott, his treating psychiatrist, was in the best position to evaluate his condition. There must be probable cause to believe that confinement is necessary in order to hold a patient in emergency detention. Lynch v. Baxley, 386 F. Supp. 378 (M.D.Ala.1974). In light of Dr. Prescott's opinion, there was no probable cause to detain Hunter in this case.
Under the facts of this case, Jackson Hospital had no duty to seek commitment, and, even assuming there was a duty, there was no evidence presented to indicate that the breach of that duty proximately caused the injuries to Morton.
The judgment of the trial court is due to be, and it hereby is, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
HOUSTON, J., concurs.
HORNSBY, C.J., and ALMON, SHORES, ADAMS, STEAGALL and KENNEDY, JJ., concur in the result.
[1]  Hunter was found not guilty by reason of insanity at his criminal trial for first degree assault, and he was incarcerated in the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility.
[2]  Dr. Prescott is not a party to this lawsuit. The plaintiff has sued only the hospital and Hunter. We should not be understood as expressing any opinion as to the liability of Dr. Prescott, if any, should he be sued.
[3]  Suit was filed on April 24, 1987, and the "scintilla rule" applies. See § 12-21-12, Code 1975. Under that rule, if a scintilla of evidence exists to support the position of the party against whom a motion for summary judgment is made, summary judgment must be denied. Harold Brown Builders, Inc. v. Jordan Co., 401 So. 2d 36 (Ala.1981). Summary judgment is proper only when the pleadings and affidavits submitted by the movant show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Ala.R.Civ.P.; Bon Secour Fisheries, Inc. v. Barrentine, 408 So. 2d 490 (Ala.1981).