DocketNumber: V-768
Judges: Price Daniel
Filed Date: 7/2/1949
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2017
E ATTORNEY GENEHAL OF TEXAS AuAT~N~~.'I.ExA~ PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEYGENERAL February 11, 1949 Hon. John T. Nicholson Opinion No. v-768 County Attorney Comanche County Re: The applicability of Article Comanche, Texas 4442, V.C.S., and Article 701, V.P.C., relating to operation of 'maternity homes' to private hospitals. Dear Sir: Reference is made to your recent request which reads in part as follows: "The City of Comanche has a private hospital under the ownership and management of two brothers, acting as a partnership, and both licensed to prac- t-icemedicine and surgery in the State of Texas. The hospital engages in the general practice of medicine and surgery, not specializing in any certain thing, and keeps patients in beds during treatment, and cares for and treats pregnant women, and de- livers their children. "The hospital was established under permis- sion and authority of the City Council of Comanche, Texas, under the provisions of Art. 1015, Sec. 4, Vernon's Rev. Civ. Stats., 1925. 11 . . . . “IS such a hospital an institution covered by Art. 4442, Vernon's 1925 RCS, Acts 1921, p. 146, Acts 1935, 44th Leg., p. 294, ch. 108,Sec. 1, and by P.C. Art. 701? Articles 4442, Sec. l., V.C.S., and 7OlV.P.C., are as follows: '"Art.4442. Maternity home "1 . Every individual, firm, association, or corporation, owning, keeping, conducting or managing an institution or home for the boarding or sheltering of Infant children, or so-called Hon. John T. Nicholson, page 2 V-768 'Baby Farm,' or any lying-in hospital, hospital ward, maternity home or other place for the re- ception, care and treatment of pregnant women, and charging a fee or receiving or expecting com- pensation in the way of room rent or board, shall obtain an annual license which shall be issued by the State Board of Health without fee, shall not be transferable to other persons or other premises, and shall expire on the thirty-first day of Decem- ber next following the issuance. The application for such license shall state the name and address of the licensee, the specific location of the building used, and the number of inmates which may be boarded there at one time, and shall be ap- proved by the local health officer. No greater number of inmates shall be housed at one time in the building than is authorized by the license, and no pregnant woman or infant shall be kept in a building or place not designated in the license. A record of licenses issued shall be kept by the State Board of Health." "Art. 701. Maternity home "Any person, manager, keeper, or officer of any corporation, firm or association who shall keep or conduct any 'Baby Farm,' lying-in hos- pital, hospital ward, maternity home or place for the reception, care or"treatment of pregnant women without first having obtained a license from the State Board of Health as provided by law shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars and in addition thereto may be confined in iail not to exceed twelve months." Acts 1921, pe 167. It is stated in 39 T'ex.Jur, 228 that: "an emergency C lause may be considered if It sheds light upon the inquiryand W 'ill aid the Court in ascer,ta ining the legislative intent. The emergency clause of Senate Bill 215 Acts of the 37th Legislature, R-S., 1921, (Art. 4442, V.C.S.j is in part as follows: "Owing to the fact that the well-being of the public demands the regulation of the above mentioned places both from the standpoint of public health and from an ethical and moral standpoint and owing to the fact that no law at present time exists on the statute books of this Hon. John T. Nicholson, page 3 v-768 State adequately controlllng such before men- tioned place, creates an emergency and an im- perative public necessity q . . . There is no general Hospital Licensing law in the State. However, over a long period the State Board of Health, the agency charged with enforcing the provisions under this Statute, has required that a hospital with a Maternity Ward be licensed under the provisions of Art. 4442, V.C.S., and it is the opinion of this office that such a construction placed upon the statutes is reasonable and sound. Since the Statute is ambig- uous with respect to whether it applies to such an institution and there is no authority to the contrary, the departmental con- struction should be followed. This rule wa8 announced in the case of Texas Employers Insurance Association v. Holmes,145 Tex. 158
,196 S.W.2d 390
, wherein Justice Sharp, speaking for the Court, stated as follows: "If a statute is ambigous and susceptible of more than one construction, there are certain well settled rules which govern its construction: "First, the practical interpretation of the Act by the agency charged with the duty of administering it is entitled to the highest respect from the Courts. And this is especially so when that interpretation has been long con- tinued and uniform." Ir view of the foregoing it is OUT opinion that under the factual situation presented, such a hospital comes within the provisions of Articles 4442, V.C.S., and 701, V.P.C. SUMMARY A privately owned general hospital which has a maternity ward in which children are delivered and mothers are cared for is sequired to be licensed by the State Board of Health. Art. 4442, V.C.S. Art. 701, V.P.C. Yours very truly, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS BA:bh:wc By s/Bruce Allen Bruce Allen APPROVED Assistant s/Fagan Dickson FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL