Simmons v. Tuomey Regional Medical Center

Simmons v. Tuomey Regional Medical Center,
No. 25143 (S.C. June 5, 2000)

The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that a hospital may be held liable for
the negligence of physicians who are independent contractors under the theory
that hospitals have a nondelegable duty to render competent treatment. However,
the court stopped short of imposing an absolute duty on hospitals, instead indicating
that a plaintiff must show that 1) the hospital offered to provide services
to the public, 2) the plaintiff sought services from the hospital, and not an
individual physician, and 3) a person under similar circumstances would have
reasonably believed that the physician was a hospital employee.