Calderon

The Hospital Lien Act (HLA), which appears at Civil Code sections 3045.1 through 3045.6, provides that a hospital which provides emergency and ongoing care to a person injured by accident or through the negligent or wrongful conduct of another has a statutory lien, in the amount of the reasonable and necessary charges of the hospital, against any judgment, settlement or compromise received by the patient from a third person who is responsible for his or her injuries. (Civ. Code, §§ 3045.1, 3045.2.) (All further statutory citations refer to the Civil Code unless another code is specified.)

In this case, the County of San Bernardino (hereafter the County) provided medical care to Martin Zavala Calderon after he was injured in a car accident in which the other driver was at fault. The parties concur that the hospital has a valid lien for the reasonable value of its services to Calderon. The principal issue on appeal is whether the County’s lien for services rendered beginning on July 14, 2003, notice of which was given to the responsible third party on November 13, 2003, takes priority over a lien for attorney fees which was created by contract between Calderon and his…