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Who Runs the Hospital Decides How a Los Angeles Malpractice Claim Starts
A medical malpractice claim in Los Angeles depends first on who runs the hospital where the care happened.
Los Angeles General, Harbor-UCLA, Olive View-UCLA, and Rancho Los Amigos are county hospitals, and a claim against them starts with a written government claim within six months.
UCLA Health's hospitals belong to the University of California, which is exempt from that claim requirement.
Cedars-Sinai, Keck Hospital of USC, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles are private.
Kaiser members generally take malpractice claims to binding arbitration rather than court.
Pain-and-suffering damages are capped at $470,000 per category of defendant in 2026, and economic losses are not capped at all.
If you believe care at a Los Angeles hospital harmed you or your family, call (888) 713-6653.
What to File First at a County, UC, Private, or Kaiser Hospital
Los Angeles County runs its own hospital system alongside University of California hospitals, private systems, and Kaiser. The owner on the date of treatment sets the first step.
| Hospital | Who runs it | First step |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles General Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center | County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services[1] | A written claim to the County's Board of Supervisors within six months, then the malpractice rules |
| Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, UCLA West Valley Medical Center (since March 28, 2024) | The UC Regents | No government claim; the 90-day notice and the malpractice deadlines |
| Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Keck Hospital of USC, Children's Hospital Los Angeles | Private systems | The 90-day notice and the malpractice deadlines |
| Kaiser Permanente hospitals | Kaiser | For members, binding arbitration administered by the Office of the Independent Administrator |
The UC exemption comes from Government Code § 905.6, which states that the claims statute "does not apply to claims against the Regents of the University of California."[2] UCLA West Valley, the former West Hills Hospital, joined UCLA Health on March 28, 2024, so care before that date was given by its previous private owner.[3]
A physician working at a county hospital may be employed by someone other than the County, so the doctor's employer is checked along with the hospital's owner. Getting either one wrong can leave part of the case without a timely claim.
The same ownership rules for hospitals across Southern California are laid out on our page with the Southern California hospital ownership table.
Families often hold off on the County claim until the medical records arrive. Holding the County claim until the full chart arrives is one of the easier ways to lose a case against LA General or Harbor-UCLA. The form asks for the basics of what happened, where, and when, with a general description of the harm, all things the family already knows, the records can follow.
How a Kaiser Member's Malpractice Claim Moves Through Binding Arbitration
"In 2025, 38 percent of Kaiser arbitration claimants had no lawyer, an all-time high in the administrator's reports."
Kaiser members' malpractice claims generally go to binding arbitration run by the Office of the Independent Administrator, which has managed the system since 1999. Its 2025 report counted 690 new demands, 275 of them from Southern California, and recorded that claimants in 261 cases, 38 percent, had no lawyer, an all-time high.[4]
- A neutral arbitrator chosen from the administrator's panel decides the cases that do not settle
- A mandatory settlement meeting comes before any hearing
- MICRA's limits apply to an arbitration award the same way they apply to a verdict
- Summary judgment ended 76 cases in 2025, all in Kaiser's favor and most of them against claimants without a lawyer
How the process runs, from the demand to the hearing, is explained on our page about Kaiser malpractice arbitration in California.
MICRA's Pain-and-Suffering Limit Rises From $470,000 to $510,000 in 2027
Civil Code § 3333.2 limits non-economic damages, the pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, in a case against a health care provider.[5]
- 2026: $470,000 per category for an injury, $650,000 for a death
- 2027: $510,000 and $700,000
- 2033: $750,000 and $1,000,000, then 2 percent a year
- The categories: health care providers, health care institutions, and unaffiliated providers can each carry a separate limit
The figure in effect when the case is resolved by judgment, arbitration award, or settlement is the one that applies. Lost earnings, future medical care, and the cost of help at home are not capped, as our page on the MICRA cap in 2026 explains.
What Decides the Value of a Malpractice Case Against a Los Angeles Hospital
A Los Angeles malpractice case is worth the patient's economic losses in full plus non-economic damages up to the MICRA limit for each category of defendant that shares responsibility.
- Future medical care and support, which can be the largest part of a serious case
- Lost earning capacity, measured against the career the patient would have had
- How many defendants share responsibility, since a doctor and a hospital can each carry a separate limit
- The forum, since a Kaiser case is decided by an arbitrator and a county hospital case starts with the government claim
Proving any of it starts with a qualified physician in the same field reviewing the chart, as our page on the standard of care and the expert requirement explains.
Which Malpractice Deadline Comes First After Care at a County Hospital
Under Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, the lawsuit is due one year after the patient discovers, or should have discovered, the injury, and no later than three years after it.[6]
- A county hospital: the written government claim within six months comes first
- Any health care provider: at least 90 days' notice of the intent to sue under CCP § 364, which extends the deadline by 90 days when served in its last 90 days[7]
- A child under six: three years or until the eighth birthday, whichever is later
- A Kaiser member: the same deadlines apply to starting the arbitration
California law lets you request your own chart, and a provider generally has 15 days to send copies, as our page on getting your medical records explains.