Court Opinion

ID: 9568540
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:04:58.548543+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:46:40.124466
License: Public Domain

Gunter, Justice,
dissenting. Mrs. Joiner brought an action in the trial court against a physician and the Mitchell County Hospital Authority seeking recovery for the full value of the life of her deceased husband. She alleged negligence on the part of the physician as having caused the death of her husband. There was no allegation in the complaint that the physician was "incompetent” or "unqualified” to act in the capacity of a physician treating patients.
Mrs. Joiner’s charges against the Hospital Authority were as follows: (a) Failure to require satisfactory and irrefutable proof of the professional qualifications of the defendant Gonzales prior to appointing him to its staff; (b) Failure to make any investigation into the professional qualifications, the character or background of the defendant Gonzalez prior to appointing him to its staff; and (c) Failure to exercise ordinary care in determining the professional competency and moral character of its employee, the defendant Gonzalez.
The Hospital Authority, in due course, filed its motion for summary judgment supported by the affidavit of the administrator of the hospital to the effect that the physician was duly licensed to practice medicine in this State, that he had made application for appointment to the staff of the hospital, that his application was duly submitted to the then *144existing medical staff of the hospital which had recommended his appointment to the staff, and that he was thereafter appointed pursuant to this recommendation.
Mrs. Joiner did not present any evidence in opposition to this evidence submitted by the Hospital Authority in support of its motion for summary judgment, and the trial judge granted summary judgment for the Hospital Authority.
The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court, and in its decision said: "The contentions of the plaintiff are that he was an unskilled physician and that the hospital was negligent in his selection. The mere fact that he was a licensed physician of the State of Georgia recommended by the other doctors on the staff as required by law does not overcome the averments that the hospital was negligent in failing to exercise care in determining his professional competency, should it later appear by evidence that the doctor was an incompetent or unskilful physician.
"The only inference that can be drawn from the affidavit is that the members of the hospital staff recommended him. On motion for summary judgment, the pleadings of the opposing party must be taken as true until it appears beyond controversy otherwise that no fact issue exists. [Citations]. The pleadings have not been pierced by the evidence before the court on motion for summary judgment as to the Hospital Authority.” Joiner v. Mitchell County Hospital Authority, 125 Ga. App. 1 (1) (186 SE2d 307).
I do not agree with the decision and judgment rendered by the Court of Appeals. I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The record in this case shows that the physician was licensed and admitted to the practice of medicine in this state in November of 1967. His qualifications to practice medicine were investigated by the medical staff of the hospital in February 1968, he was recommended for appointment by the medical staff of the hospital, and he was appointed after such recommendation on February 12, 1968. *145The treatment of Mrs. Joiner’s husband by the physician occurred on January 30, 1969, and Mr. Joiner’s death came about on January 31, 1969.
Paragraph 11 of the complaint merely charged the physician with negligence.
There was no allegation in the complaint that the physician was not licensed to practice medicine in Georgia; there was no allegation in the complaint that the physician was incompetent as measured by the normal professional standards in this State to practice medicine in this State; and there was no allegation in the complaint that because of professional incompetence the physician should have been prohibited from using the facilities of the Hospital Authority for the practice of medicine.
In the absence of an employer-employee or principal-agent relationship existing between a Hospital Authority and a physician, and such a relationship did not exist in this case, a Hospital Authority is not liable for the negligence of a physician in carrying out the physician-patient relationship in the facilities provided by the Hospital Authority.
Therefore, since the physician was only charged with acts of negligence in this case, I would hold that the Hospital Authority could not be held liable, and that the complaint should have been dismissed as to the Hospital Authority for failure to state a claim.
But going the additional step, in support of its motion for summary judgment the Hospital Authority presented evidence showing that the physician was duly licensed to practice medicine in Georgia just a few months prior to his being permitted by the Hospital Authority to use its facilities for the practice of medicine; its evidence showed that its medical staff had investigated the physician and recommended him as being competent to practice medicine in the facilities of the Hospital Authority; and its evidence showed that the physician had been authorized by the Hospital Authority to use its facilities for the practice of medicine for approximately one year before the acts of negligence *146alleged against the physician in this case took place.
This evidence submitted by the Hospital Authority was, in my opinion, more than sufficient to pierce the pleadings, and since Mrs. Joiner did not present any evidence to refute or contradict the evidence presented by the Hospital Authority, it is clear to me that the pleadings and the evidence do not present any genuine issue of material fact for jury determination between Mrs. Joiner and the Hospital Authority. Section 56 of our Civil Practice Act (Code Ann. §81A-156 (e)) provides in part: "When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this section, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but his response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this section, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.”
It is my opinion that summary judgment was properly rendered in favor of the Hospital Authority in the trial court; Mrs. Joiner’s sole cause of action in this case is against the physician for the acts of negligence alleged to have been committed by him.
I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
I respectfully dissent.