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White v. Beauregard Memorial Hospital3/6/2002
AFFIRMED.
Teresa Lewis White filed this wrongful death medical malpractice suit, naming as defendants Hospital Service District No. 2 of Beauregard Parish, d/b/a Beauregard Memorial Hospital (Beauregard Memorial), domiciled in Beauregard Parish; Dr. Etienne R. Brown and Dr. Warren W. Gremmel, Jr., two physicians domiciled in Beauregard Parish; Dr. Gremmel's medical malpractice insurer, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company; and Dr. Frederic B. Wilson, Jr., a physician domiciled in Calcasieu Parish, and his medical malpractice insurer, Preferred Professional Insurance Company. The matter is now before us because Beauregard Memorial appeals the trial court's rejection of its declinatory exception of improper venue.
The litigation arises from medical treatment received by William Lewis beginning at Beauregard Memorial on December 23, 1997. All three defendant physicians treated Mr. Lewis at Beauregard Memorial after his admittance. On December 27, 1997, Mr. Lewis was transferred to St. Patrick's Hospital in Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, under the continued care of Dr. Wilson. On January 18, 1998, while still in St. Patrick's Hospital, Mr. Lewis died. The sole issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in rejecting Beauregard Memorial's exception of improper venue.
OPINION
The Beauregard Parish Police Jury created Beauregard Memorial as a hospital service district pursuant to the provisions of La.R.S. 46:1051 et seq. It functions under a corporate structure, but with the additional power of expropriation. La.R.S. 46:1060. Additionally, Beauregard Memorial enjoys the status of a political subdivision of the state. La.R.S. 46:1064(A).
Beauregard Memorial first argues that a hospital service district can only be sued at its domicile. It bases this argument on La.R.S. 46:1063 which provides, in pertinent part, that " he police jury creating a hospital service district, with corporate powers, shall designate the domicile of such corporation, at which domicile it shall be sued." (Emphasis added.) Alternatively, Beauregard Memorial argues that La.R.S. 13:5104(B) establishes an exclusive venue in Beauregard Parish as it provides that " ll suits filed against a political subdivision of the state . . . shall be instituted before the district court of the judicial district in which the political subdivision is located or in the district court having jurisdiction in the parish in which the cause of action arises." (Emphasis added.) Beauregard Memorial argues that a clear reading of either of these statutes requires that, in any suit filed against it, Beauregard Parish is the only parish of proper venue.
Consideration of these statutes without regard to the other general and special venue statutes would suggest that Beauregard Memorial's argument has merit. However, La.Code Civ.P. art. 42 also uses the mandatory "shall" in setting forth the seven basic general rules of venue. In fact, La.Code Civ.P. art. 42(1) provides that a suit against an "individual domiciled in the state shall be brought in the parish of his domicile." (Emphasis added.) Reading this provision without regard to other venue provisions would require that Dr. Brown and Dr. Gremmel be sued in Beauregard Parish and that Dr. Wilson be sued in Calcasieu Parish. Additionally, because La.Code Civ.P. art. 42(7) provides that a suit against either of the two medical malpractice insurers "shall be brought in the parish of East Baton Rouge," it follows that a third suit in that parish would be required to litigate the matter against the two medical malpractice insurers. (Emphasis added.) Thus, a literal reading of these provisions would require that three separate sui
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