El Paso County Hospital District D/B/A R. E. Thomason General Hospital Conroe Hospital Corporation D/B/A Conroe Regional Medical Center Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd. D/B/A Corpus Christi Medical Center Sunbelt Regional Medical Center, Inc. v. Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Don Gilbert, Commissioner

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: March 11, 2004
• Docket: 03-03-00770-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-03-00770-CV

El Paso County Hospital District d/b/a R.E. Thomason General Hospital; Conroe Hospital

Corporation d/b/a Conroe Regional Medical Center; Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd.

d/b/a Corpus Christi Medical Center; Sunbelt Regional Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a

East Houston Regional Medical Center; El Paso Healthcare System, Ltd. d/b/a

Las Palmas Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center; Methodist Healthcare

System of San Antonio, Ltd. d/b/a Methodist Specialty & Transplant Hospital,

Northeast Methodist Hospital; Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital;

Columbia/St. David's Healthcare System, L.P. d/b/a North Austin

Medical Center, HCA Health Services of Texas, Inc. d/b/a Rio

Grande Regional Hospital; St. David's Medical Center and

Round Rock Medical Center; and Brownsville-Valley

Regional Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a Valley

Regional Medical Center, Appellants

v.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Don Gilbert, Commissioner, Appellees

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 201ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

NO. GN203154, HONORABLE PETER M. LOWRY, JUDGE PRESIDING

M E M O R A N D U M O P I N I O N

Appellants have filed an unopposed motion requesting an abatement of this appeal so that the district court can file findings of fact and conclusions of law as requested. After a bench trial, the district court signed the final judgment on October 4, 2003. Appellants timely requested findings of fact and conclusions of law on October 23, 2003. See Tex. R. App. P. 296. The findings and conclusions were due on November 12, 2003. See id. 297. When the court did not file findings or conclusions, appellants timely filed a notice of past due findings of fact and conclusions of law on November 17, 2003. See id. The revised deadline for the findings and conclusions was December 22, 2003. See id. No findings or conclusions have been filed.

When a trial court fails to file findings of fact and conclusions of law despite a timely request and timely notice of past due findings and conclusions, the proper remedy is to abate the appeal and remand to the trial court to make those findings and conclusions. Daughtrey v. Super Spray, Inc., 738 S.W.2d 785, 786-87 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 1987, no pet.). The failure to file the findings and conclusions is presumed harmful unless the record shows otherwise. Id. at 787. Accordingly, we abate this appeal and remand the cause to the district court for it to make findings and conclusions as requested. The court shall file these findings and conclusions within 30 days from the date of this order, and the district clerk shall prepare a supplemental clerk's record containing these findings and conclusions with this Court's clerk.

This appeal will be reinstated on the earlier of April 12, 2004 or the date on which the supplemental clerk's record containing the district court's findings and conclusions is filed with this Court's clerk.

David Puryear, Justice

Before Chief Justice Law, Justices Patterson and Puryear

Filed: March 11, 2004