Dowd v. Portsmouth Hospital

The defendant claims that the Court erred in failing to instruct the juiy as a matter of law that the plaintiffs, Helen M. and Oliver Dowd, Jr., were licensees and also in denying motions for nonsuits and directed verdicts.

The defendant is a charitable institution, the hospital building having been constructed in 1930, for the purpose of caring for the ill and injured and generally to promote the health and welfare of citizens in the community area. It makes no profit and is supported by income from patient services and by gifts. Since about 1933 the hospital has permitted the District…