Court Opinion

ID: 9680649
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:35:44.323775+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:29.856871
License: Public Domain

CONCURRING OPINION
FINCH, Judge.
I concur in the result reached in this case by the majority opinion. The only evidence submitted to the trial court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment consisted of documents in connection with incorporation of defendant as a pro forma decree corporation, plus documents disclosing that defendant has brought itself under the Not for Profit Corporation Act, Chapter 355, RSMo 1959 and V.A.M.S. Upon that state of the record, the trial court could do nothing other than sustain the motion for summary judgment and on appeal this court must affirm under the Missouri decisions cited in the majority opinion.
Appellant has filed in this court the “Source book of health insurance data 1964,” issued by the Health Insurance Institute, and portions of the August 1, 1964, August 1, 1965 and August 1, 1966 issues of the Journal of the American Hospital Association. None of these were presented to the trial court. Appellant asks this court, based on these documents, to abrogate the existing charitable immunity for hospitals and to *87reverse and remand this case for trial. This we cannot and should not do on the record before us on appeal.
I write this opinion, concurring in result, to indicate that in my opinion we should, if and when the question is fully presented to us on appeal, carefully review the existing charitable immunity doctrine as applied to pro forma and not for profit hospitals.
Some of the material presented to us by appellant indicates that for the year 1965 approximately 96% of total hospital expenditures by Missouri voluntary not for profit hospitals was derived from patient revenue. It does not appear whether any of these expenditures were for capital items or whether all were for operating expenses. This may pose a question of whether paying patients should be required personally to bear the risk and burden of injury which may result from lack of proper care in order to benefit what may be a proportionately small percentage of persons who are receiving charitable care.
We should consider all such facts and other pertinent information relative to hospital operations, including the number and extent of charity patients of the hospital, a breakdown of the source of operating funds of the hospital, and perhaps whether the hospital carries liability insurance and pays for same as an operating expense. All such evidence first should be submitted to a trial court for its consideration.
I express no view as to what disposition this court should make of such a case. That should await a consideration of the record presented to us. I do, however, believe that we should consider the matter fully when and if it is presented to us on a proper record. I do not believe that we should take the position that we will leave this determination to the legislature. The doctrine is one established by the courts, not by the legislature, and if we ultimately should conclude that it should be changed or modified, we should so hold.