Visitor Steps Off Curb In Parking Lot, Falls: Hospital Not Negligent
Quick Summary: A hospital visitor is considered by law to have come to the hospital at the hospital’s invitation, assuming the visitor is there to call upon a patient, during regular visiting hours, and remains in the parts of the hospital premises that are open to visitors.
A hospital has a legal duty of reasonable care for a visitor’s safety while the visitor is visiting.
However, the mere fact a visitor is injured on the hospital’s premises is not sufficient by itself to support a personal injury lawsuit. The visitor must prove the hospital was negligent.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA, 1996.
Just because a visitor happens to be on the hospital’s premises when the visitor steps off a curb and falls does not make the hospital liable to the visitor in a personal injury lawsuit, according to the Supreme Court of Alabama. A visitor who sues for personal injuries from a slip-and-fall must prove that the hospital was negligent, and that the hospital’s negligence caused the visitor to fall.
The hospital is under no obligation to come forward with proof that the hospital was not negligent, nor must the hospital prove the visitor or some other party was to blame. Accidents truly do happen.
The rule is, according to the court, if the visitor cannot produce proof in court that the hospital was negligent, the visitor’s personal injury lawsuit must be dismissed. Wooten vs. Houston County Health Care Authority, 681 So. 2d 149 (Ala., 1996).
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession (5)1 Jan 97