March 28, 2025
Medical malpractice cases often target doctors directly, but many patients fail to realize hospitals can be held legally responsible for harm that happens under their roof. At Martino Mccabe in Jacksonville, we’ve helped hundreds of Florida patients hold medical facilities accountable when their systems, staff, or policies caused injury.
Recent data shows hospital liability claims have increased by 35% over the past decade. The average settlement for institutional negligence now exceeds $425,000, with jury verdicts frequently reaching into the millions. This shift reflects a growing recognition that many medical errors stem from organizational failures rather than individual mistakes.
When patients enter a hospital, they place their trust in the entire institution, not just the individual providers they meet. Hospitals have legal duties to provide safe care through proper staffing, equipment maintenance, infection control, and supervision of all who work within their walls.
Our legal team at Martino Mccabe has over 30 years of combined experience bringing successful claims against hospitals throughout Florida. We understand the complex web of laws that govern hospital liability and how to build cases that target institutional failures.
This guide will help you understand when you might have a claim against a hospital rather than – or in addition to – an individual doctor. We’ll explain the legal theories that allow patients to hold hospitals responsible, the specific scenarios where institutional liability typically applies, and the practical steps involved in pursuing such claims.
If you’ve been harmed during hospital care in Jacksonville or elsewhere in Florida, knowing whether the institution itself bears responsibility can make a critical difference in your legal options and potential compensation. While doctors carry malpractice insurance, hospitals often have much deeper financial resources to properly compensate victims for serious injuries caused by system-wide problems.
Legal Foundations of Hospital Liability
Hospital liability rests on several legal doctrines our Jacksonville legal team at Martino Mccabe regularly employs in cases against medical institutions. The corporate negligence doctrine holds hospitals directly responsible for their own negligent acts, such as failing to maintain safe premises or equipment. This doctrine recognizes that hospitals have an independent duty to patients beyond what individual doctors owe.
For example, in a recent Jacksonville case we handled, Memorial Hospital was found liable under the corporate negligence theory after failing to maintain its MRI machine, which malfunctioned and injured our client during a routine scan. The hospital’s negligence was separate from any doctor’s actions.
Respondeat superior, or “let the master answer,” makes hospitals responsible for negligent acts of their employees performed within the scope of employment. If a hospital-employed nurse gives the wrong medication, the hospital itself can be sued. Florida courts consistently uphold this principle, which comes from centuries of common law.
The ostensible agency theory extends hospital liability to independent contractors who appear to patients as hospital employees. Many doctors in emergency rooms are technically independent contractors, but patients have no way of knowing this. Florida law says if a hospital makes it seem like the doctor works for them, they can be liable for that doctor’s mistakes.
In Simmons v. Jacksonville Community Hospital (a pseudonymous reference), we successfully argued that our client reasonably believed the ER doctor who misdiagnosed his stroke was a hospital employee. The hospital’s name was on the doctor’s badge, the hospital’s forms never mentioned independent contractor status, and the hospital’s advertising promoted its emergency services without clarifying employment relationships.
Non-delegable duty is another important concept in Florida hospital law. Some hospital obligations are so important that they cannot be delegated away. Patient safety, emergency screening, and proper credentialing of medical staff fall into this category.
Florida statutes also create specific responsibilities for hospitals. The Florida Administrative Code sets minimum standards for hospital operations, staffing ratios, and quality control measures. Violations of these regulations can form the basis for liability claims against the institution.
Direct Hospital Negligence Claims
Direct negligence claims target a hospital’s failures in its organizational duties. At Martino Mccabe, we regularly handle cases involving negligent hiring and credentialing in Jacksonville hospitals. These occur when hospitals give privileges to doctors with histories of malpractice or substance abuse.
In a recent case, we discovered a Jacksonville hospital had granted surgical privileges to a doctor whose license had been restricted in Georgia after multiple surgical errors. The hospital failed to verify his credentials properly or contact the Georgia medical board. Our client suffered permanent nerve damage from this doctor’s surgical error, and we held the hospital directly responsible for its negligent credentialing.
Staffing issues form another major category of hospital negligence. Florida law establishes minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, particularly in specialized units like intensive care. When hospitals violate these standards to cut costs, patient safety suffers. Overworked nurses miss critical changes in patient condition or make medication errors.
Equipment maintenance failures create serious liability for hospitals. Unlike doctors, hospitals have direct responsibility for ensuring medical equipment works properly. When ventilators, patient monitoring systems, or surgical tools malfunction due to poor maintenance, the hospital bears direct responsibility.
In one Jacksonville case we handled, a hospital’s failure to properly maintain its backup generators led to ventilator failures during a power outage. Our client suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation. We proved the hospital had repeatedly postponed recommended maintenance on its backup power systems.
Systemic protocol inadequacies represent another form of direct hospital negligence. Infection control procedures, medication administration protocols, and patient fall prevention measures are institutional responsibilities. When hospitals develop inadequate protocols or fail to enforce existing ones, they create system-wide risks to patients.
When Hospitals Are Responsible for Staff Actions
Vicarious liability allows injured patients to hold hospitals responsible for the negligent actions of hospital staff. In Florida, the key factor is often whether the healthcare provider is an employee or independent contractor. At Martino Mccabe in Jacksonville, we carefully analyze employment relationships in every hospital case.
Florida courts look beyond simple job titles to determine employment status. They examine factors like who sets work schedules, who provides equipment and workspace, how payment is structured, and whether the hospital can direct the details of the person’s work. Even if a hospital claims someone is an independent contractor, the reality of the working relationship matters more than paperwork.
Emergency departments present special vicarious liability considerations. Florida law recognizes that patients seeking emergency care have no opportunity to choose their providers. In a 2022 Jacksonville case we handled, the court held a hospital liable for an ER doctor’s negligence despite an independent contractor agreement because patients couldn’t reasonably distinguish between hospital employees and contractors during an emergency.
Hospital staff commonly covered under vicarious liability include nurses, lab technicians, radiology technicians, and other support personnel who are typically direct employees. Residents and fellows training at teaching hospitals are usually considered hospital employees for liability purposes. Hospital-employed physicians, a growing category as more doctors become direct employees rather than independent practitioners, clearly trigger vicarious liability.
Establishing “scope of employment” forms an essential part of every vicarious liability claim. The negligent act must occur while the employee is on duty and performing job-related tasks. In most hospital cases, this is straightforward, but complications arise with off-site care or unauthorized actions.
Temporal considerations also matter in scope of employment analysis. Florida courts generally hold that employment scope includes reasonable time before and after scheduled shifts for job-related preparation and wrap-up. This can be important when negligence occurs during shift changes, a particularly vulnerable time for hospital patients.
The “Apparent Authority” Doctrine
The apparent authority doctrine proves crucial for Jacksonville patients seeking justice after being harmed by hospital-affiliated doctors who are technically independent contractors. At Martino Mccabe, we’ve successfully applied this doctrine in numerous cases where hospitals tried to escape responsibility by pointing to fine-print contract arrangements.
To establish apparent authority in Florida, we must prove two key elements. First, the hospital took actions that created an appearance that the doctor was their agent or employee. Second, the patient reasonably relied on that appearance when seeking treatment. Florida courts examine the totality of circumstances from the patient’s perspective.
Hospital advertising and branding provide strong evidence of apparent authority. Many Jacksonville hospitals run TV commercials and billboards promoting their specialist physicians without clarifying their independent status. When hospitals market their “hospital cardiology team” or “hospital surgical experts,” they create the impression these doctors represent the institution.
Hospital-issued identification strengthens apparent authority claims. When doctors wear badges with the hospital logo and name, patients reasonably assume they represent the hospital. Similarly, when doctors use hospital letterhead, prescription pads, or email addresses, they appear to be hospital representatives.
The lack of disclosure regarding independent contractor status often becomes a central issue in these cases. Florida courts have repeatedly held that fine print in admission forms is insufficient to defeat apparent authority claims. A meaningful disclosure must be clear, conspicuous, and understandable to the average patient.
Hospitals often try to defeat apparent authority by having patients sign acknowledgments of independent contractor relationships. However, these defenses frequently fail when signed under duress or when contradicted by the hospital’s other actions. At Martino Mccabe, we carefully examine all the circumstances surrounding the patient’s experience to build strong apparent authority claims.