New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Summary Judgment for Hospital that Was a Governmental Entity Upheld on Appeal Because It Could Not Be Held Vicariously Liable for the Negligence of Nonemployee Physicians

The Tennessee Court of Appeals released its opinion Howell v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, No. E2021-01197-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 7, 2022). The syllabus from the slip opinion reads: 

This appeal involves a healthcare liability action. The plaintiffs filed suit against the defendant hospital, which is a governmental entity, alleging negligence by physicians practicing medicine within the hospital emergency department. The supervising physician was not an employee of the defendant hospital but an employee of a company contracting with the defendant hospital. The medical resident physician and medical student treating the patient in the emergency department also were not employees of the defendant hospital. During summary judgment proceedings, the plaintiffs presented no evidence of direct liability by the defendant hospital or of negligence by the nursing staff at the defendant hospital. Plaintiffs presented such evidence only as to physicians not directly employed by the defendant hospital. Determining that the physicians were not employees of the defendant hospital, the trial court held that the defendant hospital could not be held vicariously liable for the actions of these non-employee physicians under the Governmental Tort Liability Act []. As such, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant hospital. Discerning no error, we affirm.

Here is a link to the opinion: 

https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/jefferson_howell_v._chattanooga_hamilton_county_hospital.pdf.

NOTE: The bottom line from this opinion is this: a hospital cannot be held vicariously liable for the actions of nonemployee physicians under the Governmental Tort Liability Act.