Private Room: Hospital Bound By Contract

Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession

April 1997

   When a hospital takes an advance deposit and promises the patient a private room, the hospital must live up to its promise or face a lawsuit for breach of contract.

   However, the Court of Appeals of Texas ruled the patient can sue only for an adjustment or refund of excess charges and cannot claim mental anguish and emotional distress for not getting the accommodations desired. Delgado vs. Hospital, 936 S.W. 2d 479 (Tex. App., 1996).