Trident Medical Center

No one expects to leave the hospital worse off than when they arrived. However, when a healthcare provider’s mistake or carelessness causes preventable harm, that’s exactly what happens. If you were injured or experienced an adverse health outcome due to negligent care at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, South Carolina law may entitle you to substantial compensation for your losses.

At Hughey Law Firm, we represent patients and families in the Charleston area, including those in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, who have been harmed by negligent care at Trident Medical Center and other Lowcountry hospitals. We investigate what happened, review medical records to determine if the care provided was below the accepted standard, and pursue the compensation our clients are owed.

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Trident Medical Center Guide

• About Trident Medical Center
• Trident Medical Center Claims We Can Handle
• Common Types of Hospital Negligence at Trident Medical Center
• Potential Compensation for Negligence at Trident Medical Center
• What We Can Do for Victims of Hospital Negligence

About Trident Medical Center

Trident Medical Center, located at 9330 Medical Plaza Drive in North Charleston, South Carolina, is a 321-bed acute care hospital and Level II Trauma Center. As part of Trident Health, an HCA Healthcare affiliate, the hospital has served patients in the Charleston area for fifty years. It provides a wide range of services, including emergency medicine, surgery, cardiac and vascular care, and orthopedic surgery. The hospital is also home to the Joseph M. Still Burn Clinic, the region’s only outpatient burn clinic.

Trident Medical Center and its affiliated facilities, including Summerville Medical Center and several freestanding emergency departments throughout the Lowcountry, serve hundreds of thousands of patients each year. With that volume of patients comes an obligation: every patient who walks through Trident’s doors has the right to expect competent care that meets accepted medical standards, whether they’re there for emergency care, a scheduled surgery, or ongoing treatment.

When this standard is not met and a patient is harmed as a result, South Carolina law allows the injured patient to pursue compensation. However, not every poor outcome at a hospital reflects negligence. Medicine involves risk, and some complications occur even with excellent care. However, when harm results from a preventable error, missed diagnosis, avoidable infection, or failure to provide appropriate monitoring and treatment, the hospital and providers involved may be legally responsible.

Common Types of Hospital Negligence at Trident Medical Center

Regardless of which department or service line is involved, hospital negligence claims generally fall into a few recurring patterns. Recognizing these patterns can help patients and families identify when something may have gone wrong:

• One pattern is failure to follow established protocols. Hospitals like Trident Medical Center have detailed protocols for everything from medication administration to infection control to fall prevention. When staff deviate from these protocols due to understaffing, inadequate training, or simple error, the risk of patient harm increases significantly.
• Communication breakdowns between providers are another common pattern. A hospital stay often involves multiple physicians, nurses, specialists, and support staff. When critical information, such as a medication allergy, a change in a patient’s condition, or a test result, does not reach the right person at the right time, the consequences can be serious.
• Inadequate monitoring is another issue. Patients in emergency departments, post-surgical recovery rooms, and intensive care units require monitoring appropriate to their condition. If staffing levels or attentiveness are insufficient, changes in a patient’s condition, including signs of infection, internal bleeding, or developing pressure ulcers, can go unnoticed until the patient’s condition has significantly worsened.
• Delayed treatment: In emergency and urgent care settings, time often means the difference between a good outcome and a poor one. Delays caused by mistriage, miscommunication, or a failure to act on available information can transform a treatable condition into a permanent injury.
• Inadequate documentation is an important problem as well. Accurate and timely medical records are essential to patient care and subsequent injury documentation. Incomplete or inaccurate records can lead to errors in ongoing treatment and complicate a patient’s ability to establish what happened during their care later on.

These patterns can occur at any hospital. For a negligence claim, what matters is whether the care that a patient received at Trident Medical Center fell below what a reasonably competent provider would have delivered under the same circumstances and whether that failure caused harm.

Potential Compensation for Negligence at Trident Medical Center

If you were harmed due to negligence at Trident Medical Center, South Carolina law may allow you to receive compensation for several types of losses.

• Medical expenses cover the cost of treating injuries, illnesses, or health problems caused or exacerbated by the negligence. This includes corrective treatment, hospitalization, and ongoing care.
• You may be eligible for compensation for additional costs resulting from the adverse health outcome. These costs may include the expense of obtaining a second opinion, travel for specialized treatment, or home care services made necessary by the injury.
• You may also be compensated for lost income and benefits, both past and future, for time spent unable to work due to the health condition resulting from the negligence.
• Pain and suffering compensates for physical pain and discomfort caused by negligent care and any necessary treatment.
• You may also receive compensation for emotional distress resulting from being harmed by care that was supposed to help. This is recognized as a distinct category of harm under South Carolina law.
• Diminished quality of life addresses the broader impact of the injury on the patient’s ability to enjoy daily activities and live as they did before the negligent care occurred.

The amount of available compensation depends on the severity of the harm, the degree of negligence involved, and the specific facts of the case. At Hughey Law Firm, we carefully review every client’s medical records and treatment history to identify all categories of damages they can pursue.

Note that medical malpractice claims in South Carolina, including those involving hospital negligence, must comply with specific pre-suit notice requirements under South Carolina Code Section 15-79-125. This section requires written notice to all intended defendants before a lawsuit can be filed. These claims also have a shorter statute of limitations than many other personal injury claims, making early legal involvement particularly important.

What We Can Do for Victims of Hospital Negligence

At Hughey Law Firm, we handle every step of a hospital negligence claim, allowing our clients to focus on their recovery rather than navigating a complex legal process.

• Investigation: We review medical records, treatment timelines, and the circumstances surrounding the adverse outcome to determine if the care provided at Trident Medical Center was below the accepted standard.
• Damages evaluation: We assess the full scope of harm our client has suffered, including medical expenses, lost income, and the personal impact of the injury. This allows us to identify every category of recoverable damages.
• Insurance Analysis: We review applicable insurance coverage to determine available compensation and from which parties.
• Insurance company communication: We handle all communications with insurance companies on our clients’ behalf so they are never put in the position of negotiating with an adjuster alone.
• Pre-suit requirements: South Carolina law requires specific steps before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed. We ensure that all statutory pre-suit requirements are satisfied so that the claim will not be jeopardized on procedural grounds.
• Litigation: If a fair resolution cannot be reached through negotiation, we prepare and pursue lawsuits in Charleston County Court. We present the case to a judge and jury when necessary.
• Negotiation: We negotiate directly with hospital defense attorneys and insurance companies to pursue a fair settlement whenever possible. At the same time, we prepare every case as though it may need to go to trial.
• Resolution: Once a settlement, judgment, or jury award is secured, we ensure that our client receives the compensation they are owed.

We offer a free consultation to anyone who believes they have been harmed due to negligence at Trident Medical Center. There is no obligation, and you will never be charged for that initial conversation.