Can a Hospital be Sued for Medical Malpractice?

You may have a cause of action under the doctrine of Apparent Authority Doctrine/Agency by Estoppel. This theory has been applied in cases holding hospitals vicariously liable for the medical malpractice of independent physicians practicing medicine on their premises.
It was once thought that under the Charitable Immunity doctrine hospitals were immune from liability. Modernly, charitable immunity encourages sloppiness. If there is no specter to tort liability for your negligence, where is the incentive to exercise the best reasonable care possible if the failure to do so has no consequence? Some jurisdictions have reformed this doctrine to include partial caps on charities.

Today, more and more courts are finding hospitals liable for their negligence through what is called the Apparent Authority or Agency by Estoppel doctrine. Here's a typical example of how this doctrine works:

When you go to a hospital and you are treated by a physician at that hospital, if that physician commits malpractice there is a very good argument that the hospital should be vicariously liable because they have given an apparent authority to that doctor. The hospital has given the doctor its stamp of approval in essence, and they should be estopped from denying that approval. Another term for this is Agency by Estoppel. An agency relationship is created between the hospital and its doctors; thus, they cannot deny that the relationship exists. If you are in that hospital and that doctor commits malpractice on you, then you may have a very nice claim for vicarious liability against the hospital.