Estate of Swift Ex Rel. Swift v. Northeastern Hospital of Philadelphia

690 A.2d 719, 456 Pa. Super. 330, 1997 Pa. Super. LEXIS 62
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 30, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by159 cases

This text of 690 A.2d 719 (Estate of Swift Ex Rel. Swift v. Northeastern Hospital of Philadelphia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Swift Ex Rel. Swift v. Northeastern Hospital of Philadelphia, 690 A.2d 719, 456 Pa. Super. 330, 1997 Pa. Super. LEXIS 62 (Pa. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

DEL SOLE, Judge:

This appeal is from an order granting summary judgment in a wrongful death action brought by the Estate of Edith May Swift and her son Joseph R. Swift, Jr., individually (Appellants) against Northeastern Hospital of Philadelphia (Appel-lee). We affirm.

The facts gleaned from the record indicate that Decedent had injured herself when she fell off of a ladder. She sought treatment at Appellee’s emergency room where she was diagnosed with a compression fracture, as well as myasthenia gravis, a chronic muscular disorder. Decedent was discharged the same day, but before leaving the premises, Decedent went to the restroom where she slipped and fell. Decedent sustained a fracture of her femur and was readmitted. Her doctor’s report reveals that she slipped on water. A hospital incident report indicates Decedent stated that her leg gave out. Decedent told her orthopedic surgeon that there *333 was water on the floor where she fell. While waiting for clearance for a surgical reduction of the fracture, Decedent developed abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and an elevated temperature. Two days after her surgery, Decedent developed sepsis. She died three weeks later, never having left Appellee’s premises.

Appellants filed their Complaint on May 7, 1992. A Motion for Summary Judgment was filed by Appellee on September 30, 1994. The court issued an order on January 18, 1995 allowing Appellants sixty days to identify witnesses who would establish by direct competent testimony that there was a dangerous or defective condition on Appellee’s floor and that Appellee had actual or constructive knowledge of that condition. Appellants responded by filing a Motion for Reconsideration. On April 8, 1995, the court denied Appellants’ Reconsideration Motion and granted Appellee’s Motion for Summary Judgment. The complaint was dismissed with prejudice. 1

Appellants present the following issues for our review: (1) whether a doctor’s notes containing statements by a patient are admissible as evidence under the medical exception to the hearsay rule; (2) whether the court properly granted summary judgment; (3) whether Appellants properly pled a cause of action for hospital malpractice.

First, Appellants question whether Decedent’s multiple statements to her doctors in which she relayed that there was water on the floor which caused her to fall, are admissible hearsay. Appellants wish to have Decedent’s medical and hospital records employed to support their position that summary judgment was improperly granted. The documents include the Admission Report of Dr. Balia; the Consultant Report of Dr. Plank; the Hospital Discharge Summary; and the Emergency Room Outpatient Registration Record. These business records each contain statements of Decedent that she slipped on water on the floor.

*334 The medical treatment exception to the hearsay rule provides that testimony repeating out-of-court statements which were made for purposes of receiving medical treatment are admissible as substantive evidence. Commonwealth v. Smith, 545 Pa. 487, 492, 681 A.2d 1288, 1291 (1996). There exists a two-part test. First, the declarant must make the statement for the purpose of receiving medical treatment (testimony regarding the cause of the injury is permitted), and second, the statement must be necessary and proper for diagnosis and treatment. Id. Here, Appellants argue that Decedent stated the cause of her injury to doctors and medical personnel in order to receive treatment. Having been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis the same day as the accident on Appellee’s premises, Decedent’s statement that her slip was caused by water on the floor was necessary to insure that her slipping was not related to her newly diagnosed disease, but rather, was caused by external circumstances. We find that Decedent’s statements to her doctors and hospital personnel were pertinent to treatment. As such, they are admissible hearsay.

With that evidence in mind, we now consider the issue of whether the lower court erred in granting summary judgment. Summary judgment is properly granted when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Marks v. Tasman, 527 Pa. 132, 134-35, 589 A.2d 205, 206 (1991). The judgment may only be granted in cases that are clear and free from doubt. A reviewing court must examine the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, accepting as true all well-pled facts and giving that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences drawn from those facts. The Superior Court may overturn a trial court’s entry of summary judgment only if there has been an error of law or a clear abuse of discretion. Hoffman v. Brandywine Hospital, 443 Pa.Super. 245, 250, 661 A.2d 397, 399 (1995) (citations omitted).

*335 The mere fact that an accident occurred does not give rise to an inference that the injured person was the victim of negligence. McDonald v. Aliquippa Hospital, 414 Pa.Super. 317, 321, 606 A.2d 1218, 1220 (1992). Pennsylvania law places the burden on the plaintiff to establish the existence of negligence on the part of the defendant by proving four elements: (1) a duty or obligation recognized by law; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) a causal connection between the conduct and the resulting injury; and (4) actual damages. Pittsburgh National Bank v. Perr, 431 Pa.Super. 580, 584, 637 A.2d 334, 336 (1994). Thus, establishing a breach of a legal duty is a condition precedent to a finding of negligence. Shaw v. Kirschbaum, 439 Pa.Super. 24, 29, 653 A.2d 12, 15 (1994).

The nature of the duty which is owed in any given situation hinges primarily upon the relationship between the parties at the time of the plaintiffs injury. Pittsburgh National Bank v. Perr, supra. The standard of care that a possessor of land owes to one who enters upon the land depends upon whether the entrant is a trespasser, a licensee or an invitee. Carrender v. Fitterer, 503 Pa. 178, 184, 469 A.2d 120, 123 (1983). Here, Appellants have pled facts which establish that Decedent was a business invitee. A business visitor is a person who is invited to enter or remain on land for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings with the possessor of the land. Palange v. City of Philadelphia Law Department, 433 Pa.Super. 373, 378, 640 A.2d 1305, 1308 (1994). As such, Decedent was entitled to the highest duty of care.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

E.J. v. Johnson
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2025
Bywater, C. v. Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Harkins, D. v. Three Monkeys Croyden
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Porter, S. v. Aria Health-Frankford
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Mohar, L. v. Shawver, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2024
Ziadeh v. Walmart Inc.
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2024
SMALIS v. HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC
W.D. Pennsylvania, 2023
Steffe v. Walmart Supercenter 2023
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2023
KITTRELL v. SMITH
E.D. Pennsylvania, 2023
Carson, J. v. Grandview Hospital
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Best, E. v. Investors Ltd.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Smith-McConnell, B. v. Todd Thompson Funeral Home
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Henry, M.J. v. Colangelo, N.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Ashmore v. V & S Medical
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Cole v. WALMART, INC.
E.D. Pennsylvania, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
690 A.2d 719, 456 Pa. Super. 330, 1997 Pa. Super. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-swift-ex-rel-swift-v-northeastern-hospital-of-philadelphia-pasuperct-1997.