As a Houston, Texas medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled many cases involving healthcare provided at hospitals in the Houston Methodist system. Houston Methodist operates its flagship hospital in the Texas Medical Center and six community hospitals all over the greater Houston area.
The most recent addition to the Houston Methodist system, Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, opened in June 2017, and is located at 17201 Interstate 45 S., The Woodlands, TX 77385.
Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital has 107 licensed beds, 10 operating rooms, 553 physicians on its medical staff, and 900 employees. In its first year of operation, 1,500 babies were delivered at its Childbirth Center, 4,500 surgeries were performed, and 6,500 patients were admitted to the hospital.
The hospital offers services including cancer care, cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, sports medicine, surgery services, women’s health (including labor, delivery, and birthing), diagnostic radiology (CT and MRI scans, for example), an emergency room, and a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
If you look at Houston Methodist’s advertising in Houston and The Woodlands area, you might think that it has a lot of top-notch physician employees. Under Texas law, though, that is not the case. Under the unique Texas corporate practice of medicine doctrine, hospitals cannot directly employ and control the activities of doctors—at least they are not supposed to.
Hospitals are held liable for the negligent care provided by their employees, which typically include nurses, techs, and similar personnel. Of course, these providers are an important part of the multidisciplinary teams that contributes to modern healthcare in hospitals.
Physicians are typically in the hospital for a fraction of the time that nurses are, for instance, and rely on nurses to inform them promptly when a patient takes a turn for the worse. They also rely on laboratory techs to inform them when blood work or other tests come back with critical results. In my experience, poor, inadequate communication in these areas is the most common type of negligence by hospital employees. When there is a communicate breakdown, it can trigger a deadly delay in diagnosis and treatment.
We are here to help
When it comes to hiring a medical malpractice attorney, experience matters. We know Houston Methodist hospitals and are familiar with their typical policies, procedures, how they work, and how to investigate their potential negligence.
If you or someone you love has been seriously injured by surgical, medical, or hospital malpractice, our experienced medical negligence attorneys can help. Click here to send us a confidential email via our “Contact Us” form or call us at 281-580-8800.
All consultations are free and, because we only represent clients on a contingency fee, you will owe us nothing unless we win your case.
__________
Robert Painter is a medical malpractice attorney at Painter Law Firm PLLC, in Houston, Texas. He is a former hospital administrator who represents patients and family members in medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuits against hospitals, physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare providers. A member of the board of directors of the Houston Bar Association, he was honored, in 2017, by H Texas as one of Houston’s top lawyers. In May 2018, the Better Business Bureau recognized Painter Law Firm PLLC with its Award of Distinction.
