Understanding Hospital Negligence in Illinois: A Legal Guide for Patients When you seek medical care at a hospital, you place immense trust in the institution and its staff. Unfortunately, this trust can sometimes be betrayed by negligence, leading to serious harm or even death. Hospital negligence, a distinct area of medical malpractice, involves failures in a hospital's systems, policies, or the actions of its non-physician staff that result in patient injury. In Illinois, navigating such a complex legal landscape requires a deep understanding of state-specific laws and a strategic approach. What Constitutes Hospital Negligence? At its core, hospital negligence occurs when a hospital, through its employees or its systemic failures, breaches its duty of care to a patient, causing injury. It’s crucial to distinguish this from individual physician malpractice, though the two can sometimes overlap. While doctors are often independent contractors, hospitals are ...