STATE TORT CLAIMS ACT

Bolivar v. Williams, 938 So.2d 1222 (Miss. Oct. 5, 2006)

A two-year-old patient died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. The parents sued the doctor who oversaw the pregnancy, alleging that his medical negligence caused the child's wrongful death. The parents also claimed that the doctor's limited liability partnership was vicariously liable for the doctor's negligence. The partnership was comprised of two doctors and a community hospital, which had majority control and 98% ownership. The lower court determined that the partnership, therefore, qualified as a "community hospital" under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA). As such, the partnership was protected from liability as a governmental entity. The parents appealed.

The Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed the decision and remanded the case, holding that while the partnership was entitled to immunity under the MTCA, this was due to its classification as an "instrumentality" of the community hospital, rather than as a "community hospital" itself. Because the doctor partners had 1/3 appointment power in the partnership's executive committee, the partnership failed to be governed, operated, and maintained by a board of trustees, as required for "community hospital" classification under the MTCA. However, since the community hospital had 2/3 control and 98% ownership over the partnership, it qualified as an "instrumentality" of the community hospital. "Instrumentality" status qualified the partnership as a "political subdivision" of the community hospital and entitled it to protection and immunity under the MTCA.