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Somervell County Healthcare Authority v. Sanders6/22/2005
Somervell County Healthcare Authority d/b/a Glen Rose Medical Center Nursing Home (Nursing Home) appeals the trial court's denial of its plea to the jurisdiction premised on sovereign immunity. Because the pleadings do not allege that the death in question was caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property, we will reverse and render.
Edwin H. Clayton was a resident of the Glen Rose Medical Center Nursing Home (Nursing Home), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Somervell County Healthcare Authority. While there Clayton slipped and fell on urine that had accumulated next to his toilet, and as a result fractured his hip. He was taken to the hospital and remained there after hip surgery. Two months after his fall, he developed sepsis from a decubitus ulcer and died.
Joyce Sanders, acting individually and as the personal representative of Clayton's estate, filed a wrongful death and survival action under the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA) against the Nursing Home, alleging that the Nursing Home was negligent and grossly negligent because it failed to address Clayton's high risk for falls, and it negligently prescribed and administered anticholinergic medications which exacerbated Clayton's condition. The Nursing Home filed a plea to the jurisdiction, asserting that it is a governmental unit, and as such, is entitled to sovereign immunity as to all of Sanders's claims. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 101.001(3)(B) (Vernon Supp. 2004). The trial court denied the Nursing Home's plea, and the Nursing Home filed this interlocutory appeal.
Sovereign immunity has two components: immunity from liability and immunity from suit. Wichita FallsState Hosp. v. Taylor, 106 S.W.3d 692, 696 (Tex. 2003). Section 101.021 waives the State's immunity from liability under certain circumstances. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §101.021 (Vernon 1997). The TTCA also waives the State's immunity from suit as to the extent of liability created by [the TTCA]. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 101.025 (Vernon 1997). Sovereign immunity from suit defeats a trial court's subject-matter jurisdiction because, absent the State's consent to sue a governmental entity, a trial court has no basis for jurisdiction. Tex.Dept. of Transp. v. Jones, 8 S.W.3d 636, 637 (Tex. 1999). A trial court's subject-matter jurisdiction is a question of law and subject to de novo review. Tex.Na. l Res. Conservation Comm'n v. IT-Davy, 74 S.W.3d 849, 855 (Tex. 2002). There is no dispute that the Nursing Home is a governmental entity, and as such is entitled to sovereign immunity. See Snelling v. Mims, 97 S.W.3d 646, 653 (Tex. App.--Waco 2002, no pet.). The only question is whether Sanders pled facts sufficient to waive immunity under the TTCA.
Sanders brought suit against the Nursing Home under the portion of the TTCA that waives immunity from liability for personal injury caused by "a condition or use of tangible personal or real property." TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 101.021(2). Sanders bears the burden of pleading facts to establish that the condition or use of tangible personal or real property proximately caused the damages alleged. DallasArea Rapid Transit v. Whitley, 104 S.W.3d 540, 542 (Tex. 2003). We do not look at the merits of the case, rather we review the pleadings in favor of Sanders and accept the pleadings' factual allegations as true. Davisv. Burnam, 137 S.W.3d 325, 331 (Tex. App.--Austin 2004, no pet.) (citing Texas Ass'n of Bus. v. Tex. Air Control Board, 852 S.W.2d 440, 443 (Tex. 1993)). However, we are not constrained to the pleadings only. Jones, 8 S.W.3d at 639. We may also consider any evidence raised by the parties if necessary to resolve the jurisdictional issue. Te
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