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42 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1337 (2012)
Hospital Liability for the Right Reasons: A Non-Delegable Duty to Provide Support Services

handle is hein.journals/shlr42 and id is 1343 raw text is: HOSPITAL LIABILITY FOR THE RIGHT REASONS: A NON-DELEGABLE DUTY TO PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES Ryan Montefusco I. INTRODUCTION The goal of the tort system can be reduced to one basic princi- ple: the judiciary imposes legal responsibility on certain actors for certain conduct in order to remedy past harms and influence pro- spective behavior. Over the course of its existence, our judiciary has designated particular actors deserving of legal responsibility for vari- ous reasons. Guiding this imposition, however, is the will and per- ception of the general public. Because legal responsibility is attribut- ed, in large part, on the basis of public perception, the community of actors to which it applies will change in step with those interests and activities that our society deems most important. One of the most recent-and most dramatic-changes to our tort system concerns the judiciary's imposition of legal responsibility on hospitals for the negligent conduct of independent contractor physicians. The medical community's ability to offer safe and effec- tive healthcare services has improved significantly since the turn of the twentieth century. Aided by advanced technologies, medical pro- fessionals are now more capable of providing local communities with quality care. Through the eyes of the treated public, this develop- ment has been most clearly witnessed within the landscape of hospital operations. So influenced by the public recognition of hospitals as vessels for medical treatment, such institutions have endeavored to distinguish themselves in the healthcare field. This undertaking has been marked by increased self-advertising and overall commercialization of * J.D., magna cum laude, 2011, Seton Hall University School of Law; B.S., summa cum laude 2008, Marist College. The author would like to thank Professor Thomas Healy for his supervision and unwavering guidance throughout this process. Addi- tionally, the author would like to thank his family for supporting him through this and many other endeavors. 1337

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