Opinion

Smith v. Houston County Hospital Board

  • 287 Ala. 705
  • 255 So. 2d 328
  • 1971 Ala. LEXIS 793
Court
Supreme Court of Alabama
Filed
Dec 2, 1971
Status
Published
Author
Maddox
On the bench
McCall, Coleman, Bloodworth, Heflin, Maddox
Cited by
10 cases
Authority
More cited than 13.0%

The opinion

MADDOX, Justice

(concurring specially).

I believe this appeal to us for the second time points out the futility of attempting to widen the crack made in the “governmental immunity” wall by Paul v. Escambia County Hospital Board, 283 Ala. 488 , 218 So.2d 817 (1969).

My own personal view is that this Court should have never insulated county operated hospitals from tort liability in cases involving paying patients on the ground that counties operating such hospitals are engaged in a “governmental function.” But it has, and not on just one occasion, but on several. See Jenkins v. Houston County Hospital Board, 284 Ala. 180 , 223 So.2d 583 (1969); Thompson v. Druid City Hospital Board, 279 Ala. 314 , 184 So.2d 825 (1966) ; Clark v. Mobile County Hospital Board, 275 Ala. 26 , 151 So.2d 750 (1963); Garrett v. Escambia County Hospital Board, 266 Ala. 201 , 94 So.2d 762 (1957); Moore v. Walker County, 236 Ala. 688 , 185 So. 175 (1938); Laney v. Jefferson County, 249 Ala. 612 , 32 So.2d 542 (1947).

As I said as author of the opinion in Hutchinson v. University Board of Trustees, (decided November 11, 1971), 287 Ala. -, 256 So.2d 281 , the question of governmental responsibility is a pressing one, but the Legislature is the body which will have to deal with it in view of the interpretations which have been heretofore rendered with regard to governmental immunity.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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