Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1981 NO. 1 >

(1) The immunity from civil liability which is granted by RCW 46.61.508 to hospitals and their personnel administering blood tests in accordance with RCW 46.20.308 (implied consent) is not dependent upon the ultimate lawfulness of the accused person's arrest or a later court determination that the arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the accused had been driving or was in actual physical control of the motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.(2) The question of possible civil liability by the arresting agency under such circumstances is not dependent upon RCW 46.61.508, and the possibility of liability on the basis of a hospital's negligence in administering the blood test would be dependent upon ordinary principles of tort law as between the plaintiff driver and the defendant county or other arresting agency.

AGLO 1976 NO. 1 >

Without an express grant of statutory authority it would not be permissible for a public hospital district to contract with a private organization, including a religious order, for the operation of a hospital facility owned by such a district.

AGO 2013 NO. 3 >

 

A public hospital district that provides, directly or by contract, maternity care benefits, services, or information to women, through any program administered or funded in whole or in part by the district, must also provide the substantially equivalent benefits, services, or information required by RCW 9.02.160 and .100.

AGO 1955 NO. 11 >

A county must levy a tax under RCW 36.62.090, for hospital purposes, but in doing so may not exceed the eight mill limitation imposed under RCW 84.52.050.

AGO 1993 NO. 15 >

1.  RCW 70.37.040(5) empowers the Washington Health Care Facilities Authority to lease or sell health care facilities which the Authority has acquired. 2.  RCW 70.37.090 grants the Washington Health Care Facilities Authority the power to charge participants fees to finance projects and to defray the Authority's administrative expenses.  Fees paid by participants in a project may be used by the Authority for the purpose of acquiring a health care facility that it will lease or sell to the participants.  However, fees collected to defray the Authority's administrative expenses may not be used for this purpose.

AGO 1983 NO. 26 >

(1) The Washington State Hospital Commission is not authorized to require hospitals to provide it with data involving diagnosis, procedures, age and sex of patients, total charges and file tracer numbers, unrelated to any currently authorized function or activity of the commission.(2) The Hospital Commission may not, under current law, require hospitals to bill their patients and/or payors on the basis of prospective fixed charges for a particular treatment as opposed to charges based on actual goods and services rendered.(3) The Hospital Commission may not, under current law, require all payors, including health care contractors, indemnity insurance carriers, and self-insured or private payors, to reimburse hospitals on the basis of prospective fixed charges for a particular treatment as opposed to charges based on actual goods and services rendered.(4) Assuming a system of reimbursement based upon prospective fixed charges for a particular treatment, the Hospital Commission may not, under current law, permit a hospital to retain excess revenues generated as a result of cost efficient practices by the hospital.

AGO 1971 NO. 32 >

The actual value of the taxable property in the county or district, for purposes of the tax to be levied for tuberculosis hospital facilities under §§ 11, 18 and 21 of chapter 277, Laws of 1971, 1st Ex. Sess., is in each instance to be ascertained by means of multiplying the appropriate county assessor's determination of assessed valuation of each tax parcel by two.

AGO 1965 NO. 41 >

A hospital district or a fire protection district has the authority to expend public funds to provide ambulance service.

AGO 1965 NO. 41 >

A hospital district or a fire protection district has the authority to expend public funds to provide ambulance service.

AGO 1957 NO. 132 >

Bond redemption funds of a public hospital district may not be invested.