HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center Malpractice Lawyer

Trial-Ready Hospital Negligence Attorneys for HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center Patients and Families

The Types of HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Lawsuits Our Hospital Malpractice Attorneys Handle

Hastings Law Firm handles HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center lawsuits in Scottsdale, Arizona, over high-risk obstetric and newborn care, robotic and heart surgery, and missed heart attacks and strokes. Our hospital malpractice lawyers build each Scottsdale Shea lawsuit on the chart entries from every unit that treated the patient. We read those entries against what careful care required and measure what the harm has cost the family.

The cases we see most often at a hospital with a high-risk obstetrics unit and a newborn intensive care unit like Scottsdale Shea include:

• Obstetric and newborn care errors. A high-risk pregnancy or labor can be managed without the attention its warning signs called for, a delivery can come too late, or a newborn’s care in the NICU can fall behind. The harm can reach both mother and child and shape a family’s life for years. Our Phoenix birth injury attorneys set the fetal heart tracings, the labor notes and the NICU records side by side, hour by hour.
• Robotic, bariatric and heart surgery errors. An instrument can injure a nearby organ during the operation, a technical mistake can go unnoticed, or a complication can be missed in the days after surgery. The patient can face further operations, a longer hospital stay and months of additional recovery. Our Arizona robotic surgery malpractice lawyers compare the operative record with the recovery and nursing notes to find where the problem began.
• Missed heart attacks and strokes in the emergency department. Chest pain or stroke symptoms can go unrecognized, or the imaging and treatment they call for can start late. With these conditions, time protects the heart and the brain, so a delay can mean lasting disability or a fatal outcome. Our Arizona heart attack misdiagnosis lawyers rebuild the emergency timeline from triage to treatment.

While these are some of the more common claim types, our hospital malpractice attorneys handle any valid medical negligence case that arises at this hospital.

About HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center

HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, part of the nonprofit HonorHealth system, is a hospital at 9003 E. Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale, Arizona, that provides inpatient, outpatient and emergency care. Its emergency department treats many injuries and illnesses, and its heart services include cardiology and vascular care. HonorHealth lists the hospital as a DNV-certified Primary Stroke Center and describes it as a certified Chest Pain Center and Heart Attack Center.

Scottsdale Shea offers labor and delivery, and its High-Risk Obstetrics Unit works with maternal-fetal medicine specialists. HonorHealth says OB/GYN hospitalists are on site around the clock. It describes Scottsdale Shea as having a Level III NICU designated by the Arizona Perinatal Trust. Neonatologists from Phoenix Children’s, the system behind Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, provide care in that unit.

Surgery on the campus includes bariatric surgery and a total joint replacement center. HonorHealth says its Scottsdale Shea team uses robotic technology for cardiac surgery, urology, gynecology and general surgery. The HonorHealth Piper Surgery Center, on the north end of the campus, offers general and orthopedic surgery.

The hospital also provides intensive care and takes part in physician residency and fellowship training. Scottsdale Shea is one of the HonorHealth hospitals, a group that also includes Scottsdale Osborn, Scottsdale Thompson Peak and John C. Lincoln.

Can You File a Lawsuit Against HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, the Doctor, or Both?

You may be able to file a lawsuit against HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, the physician who treated you, that physician’s own medical group, or several of them. Which of them is named depends on who made the error and how that provider was connected to the hospital. Under Kopp v. Physician Group of Arizona, a hospital answers for the negligence of its own employees acting within their jobs.

HonorHealth’s own materials separate the employed physicians and providers of HonorHealth Medical Group from physicians not employed by HonorHealth. Each treating provider’s relationship to the hospital therefore has to be checked in the records. Whether Scottsdale Shea answers for a physician it does not employ is its own question under Arizona law, decided on the facts of the patient’s care.

Every Arizona malpractice claim has to prove two things under A.R.S. 12-563. The provider fell below the care expected of a reasonable, prudent provider in the same field in Arizona. That failure was also a proximate cause of the injury, meaning it actually brought about the harm.

Arizona also asks for medical support at the start. The patient’s side must certify in writing whether expert testimony is needed. If it is, a sworn preliminary expert opinion affidavit must be served, setting out the expert’s qualifications, the facts, the breach and how it caused the harm.

A claim can be dismissed when a required affidavit is missing, which is why a lawyer to sue a hospital secures the records and an expert early. The same Arizona rules govern a claim at other Phoenix-area hospitals, such as St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. Our Phoenix hospital malpractice lawyers can explain how these requirements apply to your claim.

Is Scottsdale Shea Responsible for a Doctor Who Is Not Its Employee Under Arizona Law?

Scottsdale Shea is sometimes responsible under Arizona law for a doctor who is not its employee. A hospital answers for the negligence of its own employees acting within their jobs, a rule called respondeat superior that Arizona courts restated in Kopp v. Physician Group of Arizona. A hospital can also answer for a physician it does not employ in two situations, control of the physician’s work and apparent agency.

The first situation depends on control. A contract that calls a physician independent does not settle the question on its own. In Beeck v. Tucson General Hospital, the court found an employment relationship because the hospital chose the radiologist and controlled the standards of that radiologist’s work.

The second situation is apparent agency, where the hospital’s own conduct led the patient to believe the physician was its agent or employee, and that belief was reasonable. Reed v. Gershweir states that rule, and Barrett v. Samaritan Health Services applied it where a hospital staffed its emergency department and the patient had no choice of doctor. The result is not automatic, since in Fadely v. Encompass a clearly disclosed independent relationship defeated the claim.

For a Scottsdale Shea patient, the evidence on both questions is gathered early. That includes the admission and consent paperwork, how each physician was presented to the patient, who chose the physician, and HonorHealth’s own distinction between employed and non-employed physicians. It is also why every responsible provider is named in the claim.

How We Work With Injured Scottsdale Shea Patients and Families

Hastings Law Firm handles hospital malpractice claims for Scottsdale Shea patients and families in Scottsdale, Arizona, from the first call through a settlement or a verdict. Our hospital malpractice lawyers and medical professionals carry the investigation forward at each stage, so a family can give its attention to the patient.

A member of our intake team takes your first call about harm at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center. When the patient is too ill or injured to call, a spouse, parent or adult child can call instead. Share what you remember about the care, the people involved, and what you were told afterward. Our team works to make sure you are heard, and your account is the starting point of our review.

Our team then requests the complete chart from the hospital and from every other provider involved. Our Phoenix medical malpractice lawyers and medical professionals study the delivery records, operative notes, emergency entries and medication orders to establish what happened and when. If our hospital negligence lawyers accept your case, it is built on that evidence and on independent physicians who can explain it.

From then on, we handle every conversation with the hospital, its insurers and its attorneys. Our board-certified patient advocates stay in contact with you and explain each development in plain language as it happens. Our hospital malpractice attorneys pursue 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 Scottsdale Shea, Speak With Our Medical Attorneys Today

Hastings Law Firm represents patients and families in Scottsdale, Arizona, in hospital malpractice claims over care at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center. Our hospital negligence lawyers work out who may be responsible for the harm, and when a hard outcome was not malpractice, we say so honestly.

Our team is here for you. We perform a free case review to find out whether you have a valid claim. Our Scottsdale medical malpractice lawyers keep what you share confidential, and you pay no fees or costs unless we win. Contact us to understand your options.