Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center v. Ward

280 S.W.3d 345, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5930, 2008 WL 3064373
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 6, 2008
DocketNo. 07-07-0451-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 280 S.W.3d 345 (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center v. Ward) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center v. Ward, 280 S.W.3d 345, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5930, 2008 WL 3064373 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

PATRICK A. PIRTLE, Justice.

Appellants, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and University Medical Center (UMC) appeal from the trial court’s order denying their respective pleas to the jurisdiction in a medical malpractice suit brought by Appel-lees, Carita and Dustin Ward, arising from the death of their stillborn child. We reverse and render.

TTUHSC and UMC contend the Texas Tort Claims Act1 bars the Wards’ claim. In response, the Wards contend that TTUHSC’s and UMC’s claims of sovereign immunity are inapposite because the death of their son comes within the limited waiver of immunity provided by the Act2 where the death is caused by a condition or use of tangible personal property, to-wit: an external fetal heart rate monitor.3

By two issues, TTUHSC maintains the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because (1) the injury was not caused by tangible personal property and (2) the information produced by a fetal heart rate monitor is not tangible personal property. Presenting three issues, UMC contends (1) the use of information from a fetal heart rate monitor operated by its nurse does not constitute a condition or use of tangible property; (2) an improper interpretation of information from a fetal heart rate monitor is not harm caused by a condition or use of tangible property; and (3) UMC’s failure to continue to monitor Cari-ta (or take other affirmative action) was not the cause of the stillbirth of her unborn child. Accordingly, both TTUHSC and UMC contend the Wards’ claim does not fall within the limited waiver of immunity created by § 101.021(2) of the Act.

Background Facts

In their pleadings, the Wards allege that on January 10, 2006, Carita arrived at UMC complaining of labor pains. The initial examination revealed that her cervix was dilated and nurses attached a monitor to assess the fetal heart rate. Several hours passed until a doctor re-examined her condition. Although her labor had not progressed, Carita requested to be transferred to a labor and delivery room. At 8:10 p.m., Dr. Carol Tracy Suit, TTUHSC’s resident physician, examined Carita and also determined that her labor status had not changed. As a result, Dr. Suit informed Carita that she was going to be discharged. Carita, however, requested additional time to see if there would be a change in her condition. Approximately three hours later, Dr. Suit examined Cari-ta for a second time. Observing no change in her labor status, Dr. Suit ordered that Carita be discharged. Carita left UMC at 12:30 a.m. and went home. One day later, on January 12, Carita returned to UMC complaining of labor pains. After numerous attempts, doctors were unable to detect the fetus’s heartbeat and the infant was delivered stillborn. Doctors concluded that the ultimate cause of death was a “true knot” in the fetus’s umbilical cord. The Wards sued TTUHSC and UMC for negligence.

[348]*348TTUHSC and UMC filed pleas to the jurisdiction alleging that the Wards’ pleading failed to allege that use of tangible personal property caused the death of their unborn son and thus, their suit was barred by sovereign immunity. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the pleas to the jurisdiction. TTUHSC and UMC filed this interlocutory appeal pursuant to § 51.014(a)(8) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

Standards of Review

I. Plea to the jurisdiction.

When a claim is barred by sovereign immunity, the trial court lacks jurisdiction, and dismissal with prejudice is proper. City of Austin v. L.S. Ranch, Ltd., 970 S.W.2d 750, 752 (Tex.App.-Austin 1998, no pet.). A plea to the jurisdiction is a dilatory plea by which a party challenges a court’s authority to determine the subject matter of the action. Bland Independent School Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 554 (Tex.2000). We review de novo the trial court’s ruling on a plea to the jurisdiction. Tex. Dep’t of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004). When reviewing a plea to the jurisdiction in which the pleading requirement has been met and evidence has been submitted to support the plea that implicates the merits of the case, we take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 228.

The party suing the governmental entity bears the burden of affirmatively showing that the trial court has jurisdiction to hear the cause. Tex. Dept. of Criminal Justice v. Miller, 51 S.W.3d 583, 587 (Tex.2001). In so doing, we are not required to look solely to the pleadings but may consider evidence and must do so when necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issue raised. Id., citing Bland Independent School Dist., 34 S.W.3d at 555. We are, however, prohibited from considering an expert report as evidence. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.351(k)(l) & (2) (Vernon Supp.2007).

II. Sovereign Immunity Under the Texas Tort Claims Act

TTUHSC and UMC are institutions, the status and authority of which are derived from the Constitution of Texas or from laws passed by the Legislature under the Constitution, and as such, they are “governmental units” as defined by section 101.001(3)(D) of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. Cox v. Klug, 855 S.W.2d 276, 277 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 1993, no pet.); See also Huckabay v. Irving Hosp. Auth, 879 S.W.2d 64, 66 (Tex.App.Dallas 1993, writ dism’d by agr.). As a governmental unit, they are each entitled to the protections of sovereign immunity.4

Sovereign immunity protects a governmental unit from lawsuits for damages. Tex. Natural Res. Conservation Comm’n v. IT-Davy, 74 S.W.3d 849, 853 (Tex.2002). When a claim is barred by sovereign immunity, the trial court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, and dismissal with prejudice is the appropriate remedy. El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center v. Crissman, 241 S.W.3d 578, 581 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2007, no pet.). Section 101.021(2) of the Act provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity when death is caused by a condition or use of [349]*349tangible personal property, if the governmental unit would, were it a private person, be liable to the claimant according to Texas law. See § 1.021(2); Salas v. Wilson Memorial Hosp. Dist., 139 S.W.3d 398, 403 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2004, no pet.). Because the Act provides a limited waiver in certain, narrowly defined circumstances, to come within this exception a claimant must allege that (1) the use or misuse of tangible personal property (2) proximately caused the personal injury or death. See Dallas County Mental Health & Mental Retardation v. Bossley, 968 S.W.2d 339, 341 (Tex.1998).

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Bluebook (online)
280 S.W.3d 345, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 5930, 2008 WL 3064373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-tech-university-health-sciences-center-v-ward-texapp-2008.