Existing case law shows that “the responsibility to credential doctors and nurses arises from the health care institution’s duty to its patients,” the panel said, making it the institution’s responsibility to ensure that those providing patient care in its facilities are “qualified for the privileges” granted to them.
Here, the panel said neither Polk nor the companies fall into any of the “defined categories” of a healthcare institution laid out in OCGA Section 31-7-1, a Georgia code section that provides definitions for the purpose of regulating hospitals and related institutions. As such, the panel said the trial court correctly freed them from the negligent credentialing claim.
The panel said the trial court also correctly freed Polk and the companies from Calvin Miller’s claims that they violated two Georgia statutes by negligently failing to observe Hamm to ensure she provided adequate medical treatment to patients.
The first statute cited by Calvin Miller—OCGA Section 43-26-51—requires nurses to report other nurses to the Georgia Board of Nursing if they believe they have been convicted of “any felony, crime involving moral turpitude, or crime violating a federal or state law relating to controlled substances or dangerous drugs” or are “displaying an inability to practice” in their area of nursing due to the “use of alcohol, drugs, narcotics or chemicals.”
