St. Luke's Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospital v. Underwood

CRANDALL, Judge.

Plaintiff, St. Luke’s Episcopal-Presbyterian Hospital (hospital), appeals from the judgment of the trial court, entered in a court-tried case, in favor of defendants, Melvin Underwood and Shirley Underwood, at the close of the hospital’s evidence, in an action to collect the unpaid balance of a hospital bill. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

The evidence established that defendant, Melvin Underwood (patient), was admitted to the hospital’s emergency room on May 16, 1993 and underwent heart by-pass surgery on May 18. He alone signed agreements to authorize treatment and to…