Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

- June 6, 1967 Mr. Jim N. Thompson ' Opinion NO. M-85 County Attorney Lamar County Re: Whether the Lamar County Paril),Texas Hospital District, which encompasses the entire county, haa the authority.to make payments to privately owned hospitals located within the county for the handling of Dear Mr. Thompson: charity patienta. In a recent letter to this office you requested an opihion in regard to the'above referenced matter. We quote from your letter at3follows: c R, . . “The Board of Directors of the Lamar County Hospital Mstrlct has been contacted by the Admlnlstratoreof the other two hospitals and requested that.they make payments to the other two hospitals In the future for charity cases handled by them. The Board of Managers of the Lamar County Roapltal District has called upon the County Auditor%0 determlne whether or not such pavents could be made from the Lamar County.BospitalDistrict.Fundwhen a charity patient wae handled by a hospital in Lamar County,,Texas other than the Lamar General Hospital which is operated by said Hospital District; Is there any legal authority for the payments requested by the hospitals other than the hospital operated by the Lamar County Hospital District? II . . .1, - 385 - Mr. Jim N. Thornpeon,page 2 (M-85) Fursuant to the authority granted by Article IX, Sectlon 6 of the Texas Constitution,the Texaa Leglslature enacted House Bill 532, Acts 56th Legislature,Regular Session, 1959, chapter 422, page 917, permitting Lamar County through a county-wideelection to conetltute itself a hospital district for- the care of the counts’8 indigent and needy persons. certain pro’. visions of this AFt were amended by Acts 57th Legislature,Regulm Session, 1961, chapter 10, page 19. Those portlone of this Act, as amended, which are applicable to the questions presented here read aa follows: n’Sectlon 1. (a) Lamar County may conatltute itself a hospital district to take,over the hospital system now operated by said County and thetiafter admlnlster the same by furnlbhlngmedical aid and hospital care to the indigent and needy person8 re- eldlng In such county; . . .’ (I . . . "Sec. 5. Said County, except as herein au- thorized, and any city therein, shall not, after .the organizationof cruchdistrict. lcw any tax for hospital purposes and such district shill be deemed to have assumed full responsibilityfor the ?urnlshlng of medical and hospital care for the.., needy and Indigent person8 residing ln said dl 8- trlct.” (Emphasisadded.) Section 5 of the Act, which la quoted above, provides that the Lamar County Hospital Mstrlct “shall be deemed to havt assumed full re8pon8lbllltyfor the furnlehlng of medical and hospital care for the needy and Indigent persona residing in said district.’ In Attorney General’r Opinion No. C-334 (1964) thin --’ office held that substantiallyIdentical wording in the Act,au- ~&l~lnqthe .creatlonOS the Ochlltrte County Dletrlct meant .the HorrpitalDi8trlct assumes the mnt authorlty rt- gardl& ihe furnishing of medical and hospital care for the nttdx; and lndlgent.personsresiding in the Hospital District a8 thertto. fore possessed by the Coamlssloners Court of Ochiltree County. z;Mame would be true as regards the Lamar County Hospital Dls- . This office dlscusstd the extent of county commlselontrr courte’ authority in this arta in Attornty Gtnera17s Opinion No. c -246 (1964) : - 386 - Mr. Jim N. Thompson, page 3 (M-85) "Somewhat similar to the preceding question, your sixth question also concerns the contractual power and authority of the Conunlesloners Court of Tarrant County. As atated In answering your first question, where a duty la Imposed or a power con- ferr,&dupon a c&mnleelonerecourt, then the com- mleelonere court has Implied authority to exercise broad dlecretlon to accomplishthe purposes ln- tended. When the commleelonerecourt8 were ex- pressly given the power and duty 'to provide for the support of paupers,'by necessary lmpllcatlon thty were clothed with the authority to do. all the incidentalthings necessary to provide for their support. Thus, while the commleeionerbcourt is not under a duty to place Indigents In a private facility and pay for their care, Wlllacy County v, Valley Baptist Hospital, 29 s.w.2a 430 (Tex.Clv. App. l950), it can, in the exerclee of it8 die- cretion, provide for the cart of indigents whom it places in a private facility. Here, of course, the contractualterms must not be such as to amount to a donation by the County to the lndi- vldual or corporationproviding the care, nor can the contract provide for payment0 by the County out of future rtvtnuee." In dlecuaelng the power of a commleeiontrecourt to provide for medical care in privately owned lnebituti~onethis office held in Attorney Qtntral'e Opinion No. O-2633-A (1941) as followa: "It is our opinion that the statutes contem- platt'that all paupers and indigents who are euf- ferlng from any lllneee, disease or injury and in need of hoepitallzationshould, Insofar as practl- cable, be sent to the county hospitals. . . . The co!mnleelonere~court Is authorized to appropriate money for the maintenance of the County Hospital as polnttd out.in Opinion No. O-2422. Article 4438, eupra, authorizes.thtcommleelonere'court to aend 'indigentsick' who may or may not be 'paupers'to the county hospital. "we think that if a pauper la Ill or Injured and the commlaelontre'court thinks it not feasible to treat him at the county hOCJpitd1, as for ex- ample If the pauper were seriously injured at hla home and It would not be safe to carry him to the - 307 - Mr. Jim N. Thompson, page 4 (M-85) .CountyHospital the conimleelonere'court would clearly have the authority to provide medlcal aid for him at his home and would have clear authorlty to furnish him with necessary medlclnee. There are perhaps many instances In which the co%iiiiiii slontre' courts would have authority to aid Paupers by l'urnlshlngmedical aid and mtdlclnee to them at laces other than the county hospital and we cannot ere attempt to enumerate such Instances. (EmPha- 818 added.) Prom the foregoing It may be seen that, while It Is under no duty to do so, the Lamar County Hospital District may in the exerciet of sound discretion pay private lnatltutlonafor medical cart rendered to needy and indigent persons who art resi dents of Lamar County if it 1s not practicable to treat such per eons in the hospital district's own facllltlee. The district would not of course be able to pay for services rendered in prl- vate lnetltutlonewhich It would not have the authority to pro- vide in Its own facllltlte. SUMMARY The Lamar County Hospital District may In the exercise of sound discretion pay private lnetltutlonelocated within the district for medical care rendered to needy and Indigent persons who are residents of Lamar County if it Is not practicableto treat such persons In the hospital district'8 own facilities. a very truly, Preparedby Lewis E. Berry, Aeeletant Attorney general APPkOVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Hawthorne Phllllpe, Chairman W. V. Geppert, Co-Chairman - 388 - . Mr. Jim N. Thompson, page 5 (M-85) Kerns Taylor John Reeves Ralph Rash Roger Tyler - STAFF LEGAL ASSISTANT A. J. Carubbl, Jr. - 389 -