Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are supposed to comport to strict sanitary and safety guidelines.  However, many facilities fail to adequately clean floors and dry wet surfaces which then result in slip and fall accidents.  Such accidents usually lead in minor injuries. Sadly in some instances, such accidents result in serious and life-threatening injuries to patients and visitors. Often, hospitals are visited by individuals who have difficulty walking.  As a result, doctors’ offices and hospital managers/staff must take extra precautions to make sure their floor is not wet, slippery, or has any object laying on it.  Failure to do so will lead to liability for the hospital owners and manager as well as owners of the property.   If you have suffered from a slip and fall accident in a Doctor’s Office or a hospital clinic contact our Slip and fall premises liability lawyers today. Our goal is to fight victims’ rights and make sure you receive the compensation you are owed.

Hospital Slip and Falls and Premises Liability

Premises Liability refers to the body of law that holds a property owner, or any person in possession of the property, liable for damages suffered on their premises.  In reference to “possession of property,” this can include any person who:

• Is in occupies and intends to control the property.
• Has occupied with the intent to control the property, and no other person has followed; or
• Is entitled to instant possession of the property and where no other party is entitled to such rights.

Hospitals, like all other establishments, owe a duty of care to all inhabitants of their premise, whether it be a patient, visitor, staff member, contractor, or other member. In order to prove that the hospital is responsible for your injuries, there are several elements that must be present. Those elements are listed below:

1. Hospital Owes You a Duty of Care. Hospitals need to keep those people on their premises reasonably safe. The first step in recovering compensation for your damages is to prove that the hospital owed you a duty of care. You will do this by proving that you were at the hospital at the time of your injury. You have to be a person who was undergoing treatment, doctor, nurse, employee, or even a visitor.
2. Hospital Was Negligent In Their Duties. For slip and fall cases, you have to show that the hospital did not clean a spill and did not dry the floor in a reasonable time. If the hospital did not put up a “WET FLOOR” sign, the hospital can be said to have acted negligently. For example, the hospital cleaning staff failed to mop a spilled liquid or failed to put up a “WET FLOOR” sign and someone slipped and fell. Or a hospital nurse or doctor left a cart in the middle of a hallway and a patient/visitor trips on it and gets injured in the fall
3. Hospital’s Negligence Led to Your Injury. The point of this is to prove that if the hospital was the reason you got injured. If the hospital had not acted negligently, you would not have received your injuries.
4. You Were Hurt and Suffered Injuries. Your accident must have led to an injury. If you fell but you weren’t hurt, then you can’t sue the hospital because there is nothing to fix.

What are the common causes of hospital slip and fall accidents

Common causes are slip and fall accidents in hospitals are as follows Improper use of floor mats and runners – Lack of maintenance and upkeep of safety guidelines -Lack of proper and safe stairs and handrails – Poor drainage of pipes leading to wet and slippery floors – Contaminant on the floor – Poor Lighting – Uneven walking surface areas – Weather condition – Managerial and staff negligence – Loose cords, wires, laptop extension cords, hoses

Common Injuries resulting from Slip Trip and Fall Accidents

Some of the leading injuries caused by wet and slippery floors are as follows

• Separated shoulder — If you fall on your shoulder, it can become dislocated and separate from its joint.
• Knee dislocation — Falling on your knee can be incredibly painful. You can dislocate your knee, break it, and even break your kneecap.
• Sprains to the neck and joints — Your neck is incredibly sensitive and the smallest amount of force can cause incredible discomfort.
• Head Damage leading to Traumatic Brain Injuries — Blunt force trauma to the head can lead to severe brain injury. If you fall on your head, you need medical treatment as soon as possible to ensure nothing goes wrong.
• Spinal Cord Injuries — Your back is intricate, and the smallest deviation from normal can lead to severe pain.
• Soft Tissue Injuries — It is possible that you severely injure your soft tissue because of the fall.
• Internal Bleeding and Hemorrhaging — Your injuries may not be visible. If your fall was nasty enough, your bleeding could be internal and so you would need immediate treatment to stop the bleeding.

There are many factors that can have an effect on the amount that will be recovered by our clients.  Some of the factors are as follows

• The Type of Injury suffered
• The extent of injuries
• Permanence of Injuries
• Whether brain damage was involved
• Availability of Punitive Damages
• Loss of Wages due to Pain and Suffering
• Emotional trauma such as Post Traumatic Stress, Anxiety

Average Value of Slip and Fall Case

Every slip and fall case is different. Meaning the place where the fall occurred, the injuries suffered, and the specifics of how the fall happened are different. This means that the value of your slip and fall case is determined by the specifics of your circumstance. Medical Bills: Your bills for past and future treatment will be one of the factors that will contribute the value of your slip and fall case. If you have the right attorneys by your side, your compensation will include the full cost of the medical bills that resulted from the treatment you received from your injuries. Lost Wages: Your injuries may have forced you to miss work, and that means you lost wages because of your inability to work. A qualified lawyer can get you the wages you lost because of the hospital’s negligence. If your injuries were severe and limit your ability to work in the future, you can get compensation to make up for the wages you could have made had you not gotten so injured. Pain and Suffering: There can be injuries which result in an affected psyche of a slip and fall injury. Trauma and emotional stress can be hard to quantify, and so a medical professional will have to testify as to the extent of your pain and suffering. Your lawyer must be experienced in order to get the maximum compensation when it comes to pain and suffering damages.

MAJOR HOSPITALS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

• UCLA Medical Center (MC)
• Cedars-Sinai MC
• Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
• Huntington Memorial Hospital
• Keck Hospital of USC
• UC Irvine MC
• Long Beach Memorial MC
• Providence Little Company of Mary MC Torrance
• St. Joseph Hospital
• St. Jude MC
• Kaser Permanente Los Angeles MC
• Providence Holy Cross MC
• Kaiser Permanente Anaheim MC
• Orange Coast Memorial MC
• Torrance Memorial MC
• Adventist Health Glendale
• Mission Hospitals, Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach
• Kaiser Permanente Downey MC
• Kaiser Permanente South Bay MC
• Tarzana MC
• St. John’s Health Center
• St. Vincent MC
• Centinela Hospital MC
• AHMC Anaheim Regional MC
• Alhambra Hospital MC

How the dtla law group can help

We at the DTLA Law Group are here for you, the client. We offer free legal consultation to all of our clients. Free legal consultation means that you have the ability to talk with one of our experienced attorneys and explain the details of your case. Our qualified slip and fall personal injury lawyers will listen to your case and give you their initial thoughts regarding your case. We want you to have all of the facts when it comes to something as important as legal counsel. This comes at no financial obligation to you, so there is no financial risk on your part. Additionally, we offer the zero-fee guarantee. This means that you will not pay for our legal services until we prove your case and you receive the compensation you deserve for the damages incurred. If we are unable to win your case, then you will not pay for our services. Remember that it is crucial to act quickly after you’ve been injured to report any accident-injury claim before any limitations can lower or extinguish your rightful claim. Call us for a free consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers regarding your injuries.