Flagstaff Medical Center Malpractice Lawyer

Trial-Ready Hospital Negligence Attorneys for Flagstaff Medical Center Patients and Families

The Types of Flagstaff Medical Center Lawsuits Our Hospital Malpractice Attorneys Handle

Hastings Law Firm handles Flagstaff Medical Center lawsuits in Flagstaff, Arizona, over emergency and trauma care, labor, delivery and newborn intensive care, and spine and orthopedic surgery. Our attorneys build each lawsuit on the records of every team that treated the patient, from the transport crew to the recovery floor.

The cases we see most often at a regional trauma hospital like Flagstaff Medical Center include:

• Emergency and trauma care errors. Internal bleeding or the extent of an injury can be underestimated, the right scan may never be ordered or may be read wrong, and surgery can come too late. For a patient who arrived by helicopter or ambulance, those lost hours can turn a survivable injury into permanent disability or a death in the family. Our Arizona emergency room malpractice lawyers line up the transport run sheet, the trauma bay notes, and the imaging times to show when action should have been taken.
• Labor, delivery, and newborn intensive care errors. Signs of fetal distress can be missed, a delivery can be delayed, or a premature baby’s decline can go unnoticed in the NICU. A baby harmed this way may face brain injury and a lifetime of therapy and medical needs. Our Arizona NICU malpractice attorneys read the fetal heart tracings, the delivery record, and the nursery’s monitoring charts together.
• Spine and orthopedic surgery errors and missed complications afterward. A nerve or the spinal cord can be damaged during an operation, or an infection or blood clot can be overlooked while the patient recovers. The harm can mean paralysis, chronic pain, or more operations to repair what went wrong. Our Arizona surgical malpractice lawyers compare the operative report with the post-surgery nursing notes and the orders that followed.

While these are some of the common claim types, our hospital malpractice attorneys handle any valid medical negligence case that arises at this hospital. If your concern involves a different kind of care, we welcome the call.

About Flagstaff Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center in Northern Arizona

Flagstaff Medical Center is a regional hospital at 1200 N. Beaver Street in Flagstaff, Arizona, the county seat of Coconino County. The hospital belongs to Northern Arizona Healthcare and provides emergency and trauma care, labor and delivery, newborn intensive care, pediatrics, critical care, behavioral health and spine surgery.

Northern Arizona Healthcare is a nonprofit system governed by a volunteer board that runs two hospitals, FMC and Verde Valley Medical Center. Verde Valley is a separate hospital, not a campus of FMC.

FMC is a Level I trauma center that treats injured adults and children of all ages, and the state lists it among its designated Level I trauma centers. Its emergency department provides emergency and trauma care around the clock and serves all of northern Arizona, in the system’s words. That department is also a Cardiac Receiving Center with 24/7 cardiac catheterization, and it offers on-site neurology and telemedicine. Emergency physicians, trauma and orthopedic surgeons are on call, with neurosurgery coverage at all hours.

Patients from across the region can reach the hospital by air or by ground. Guardian Air is the system’s hospital-based, nonprofit air medical transport program, and FMC is home to Guardian Medical Transport, whose ground ambulances are based there. A transfer center brings patients in from other facilities and can arrange air transport for a child to another pediatric facility. One injured person’s care can therefore run from a flight or ambulance crew to the emergency department, into surgery and then critical care, with each stage keeping its own records.

The hospital also houses the Birth & Wellness Center for labor, delivery, recovery, and antenatal care for high-risk mothers. Its Level III-A NICU Special Care Nursery treats premature and sick newborns with neonatology coverage day and night. A pediatrics department at FMC includes trauma and injury care for children.

The hospital also runs critical care units, inpatient behavioral health for adults and adolescents, and a spine surgery program. Therapy after an injury or an operation continues at EntireCare Rehab & Sports Medicine at Flagstaff Medical Center, which has its own address at 1215 N. Beaver St. Patients of other Arizona hospitals, such as Banner – University Medical Center Tucson in Tucson and Onvida Health Yuma Medical Center in Yuma, have their own pages on our site.

Can You File a Lawsuit Against Flagstaff Medical Center, the Doctor, or Both?

A patient harmed at Flagstaff Medical Center may be able to sue the hospital, the doctor, or both, depending on who made the error and who employed that person. Under Kopp v. Physician Group of Arizona, the hospital answers for negligence by its own employees acting within their jobs. A physician answers for his or her own treatment decisions.

The hospital also answers for its own conduct as an institution, and employment is not always obvious from inside the hospital. Northern Arizona Healthcare’s billing answers tell patients they may receive separate statements from independent providers, naming specialties such as anesthesiologists, emergency physicians, hospitalists, radiologists, and surgeons. The records have to show who employed each provider, and a lawyer to sue a hospital starts there. When a doctor is an independent contractor, the hospital can still be responsible if its own conduct led the patient to reasonably believe that doctor worked for it.

Arizona adds two requirements that shape any Flagstaff Medical Center lawsuit. The injured patient must prove that a provider fell below the accepted standard of care and that this failure caused the injury, under A.R.S. 12-563. Early in the case, the patient must also serve a sworn preliminary expert opinion affidavit under A.R.S. 12-2603, in which a qualified expert explains the breach and how it caused harm. Our Arizona hospital malpractice lawyers handle claims against hospitals across the state.

Does Arizona Law Set a Higher Standard of Proof for Emergency Care at Flagstaff Medical Center?

Arizona law sets a higher standard of proof for some emergency care at Flagstaff Medical Center, not for every emergency visit. Under A.R.S. 12-572, a claim over care given in compliance with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) or in a disaster needs clear and convincing evidence. Clear and convincing evidence is a heavier burden than an ordinary malpractice claim carries.

EMTALA requires a hospital emergency department to screen a patient for an emergency condition and to stabilize it. The rule is not limited to the doctor in the emergency department. It covers the health professionals who give or are consulted on that care, and it covers the hospital, including its agents and employees. It does not reach every claim that begins with a visit to the ER.

Consider a trauma patient flown or driven to FMC. The screening and stabilization in the trauma bay can fall under the emergency rule. Once the patient is stabilized or admitted, care in the operating room, the intensive care unit, the NICU, or a recovery bed is judged by the ordinary standard. That standard asks whether a provider fell below the accepted standard of care and caused the injury.

The records show where emergency care ended. Arrival times, the trauma team’s notes, the moment a patient was judged stable, and the admission orders mark the boundary between the two standards. Reading them in that order tells our team which rule applies to each part of a claim, and it is one of the first things we examine.

How We Work With Injured Flagstaff Medical Center Patients and Their Families

Hastings Law Firm represents injured Flagstaff Medical Center patients and their families in Flagstaff, Arizona, in malpractice claims from the first call through settlement or trial. Our attorneys travel to meet each family, wherever in northern Arizona they live. We handle the investigation and the legal work at every stage, so the family’s attention can stay on the patient’s recovery.

A call about harm at Flagstaff Medical Center reaches a member of our intake team first, and a relative can make that call for a patient who is still recovering. We ask what happened, where in the hospital it happened, and who you remember treating you or your family member. Our team works to make sure you are heard, and your account is where our review begins.

We then request the complete medical records on your behalf, from the transport crew’s notes through the emergency, operative, and intensive care charts. Our attorneys and medical professionals study them to establish what was done, what was missed, and when. If our hospital negligence lawyers accept your case, we build it on those records and on the medical experts who can explain them to a jury.

Once we represent you, the hospital, its insurer, and its lawyers deal with us, not with you. Our board-certified patient advocates stay in contact with you and explain each new development in plain terms when it happens. Our hospital malpractice attorneys press for a settlement that reflects the full cost of the injury. When an offer falls short, we are prepared to take your case to a jury.

If You or a Loved One Were Injured at Flagstaff Medical Center, Speak With Our Medical Attorneys Today

Hastings Law Firm handles hospital malpractice claims for patients and families in Flagstaff, Arizona, who were harmed by care at Flagstaff Medical Center. Our lawyers will look at what happened, identify who may be responsible, and tell you plainly what we find. Our Flagstaff medical malpractice lawyers also handle claims involving other providers in the area.

Our team is here for you. We perform a free case review to find out whether you have a valid claim, and everything you share stays confidential. There is no fee unless we win. Let us help you find the answers you deserve.