Opinion ID: 1656455
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether dr. quesnel was an employee of spch at all times pertinent to the complaint, thus affording him immunity under the mtca.

Text: ¶ 5. The circuit court found that at the time of the alleged negligence, Dr. Quesnel was an employee of the state of Mississippi under Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-5 (Rev.2002). Wright contends that, despite SPCH's employment contract with Dr. Quesnel in which he is defined as an SPCH employee, SPCH held itself out to the public via its Conditions of Admission Form as not being Dr. Quesnel's employer. Due to the conflict between the form and the contract, she argues an issue of fact exists as to Dr. Quesnel's employment status. ¶ 6. We find that the circuit court correctly decided that Dr. Quesnel was an employee of SPCH at the time of the alleged negligence. In its answer, SPCH admitted that Dr. Quesnel was its employee during all times pertinent to the allegations of the complaint. A third party such as Wright cannot say that the legal effect of a contract between two other parties (SPCH and Dr. Quesnel) is different from that intended by the two other parties unless the third party can show that the contract was made for his or her benefit. Burns v. Washington Savs., 251 Miss. 789, 171 So.2d 322, 324 (1965). Here, the benefits of the employment contract flow to SPCH and Dr. Quesnel only, not to Wright. No material issue of fact exists. ¶ 7. Also, in determining whether a physician is a state employee, we have looked past form (titles, Conley v. Warren, 797 So.2d 881 (Miss.2001), malpractice insurance, Knight v. McKee, 781 So.2d 121, 123 (Miss.2001), practice plans, Mozingo v. Scharf, 828 So.2d 1246 (Miss.2002), etc.), to the substance of the physician's relationship with the state hospital. The factors we consider are the physician's acts, the state hospital's interest in the physician's acts, the state hospital's control over the physician's acts, whether the physician's acts involved judgment and discretion, and whether the physician received compensation from the patient. See Miller v. Meeks, 762 So.2d 302, 310 (Miss.2000). The Miller factors are more than sufficient to determine the status of physicians working for state hospitals, and that SPCH's disclaimer of liability for Dr. Quesnel's acts does not change the legal status of Dr. Quesnel, especially when SPCH has admitted that Dr. Quesnel was its employee.