The First Court of Appeals held City EMS providers are “health care professionals” therefore claims related to emergency medical services must be brought as health care liability claims requiring expert reports.
Special contributing author Laura Mueller, City Attorney for Dripping Springs
City of Houston v. Shirley Houston, No. 01-19-00255-CV (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] August 25, 2020).
In this medical negligence case, the plaintiff sued the City after being injured during her ambulance transport. The Court held she had to bring a health care liability claim and dismissed the suit for failure to provide the required expert report.
The City’s emergency medical staff dropped the plaintiff from a gurney while transporting her the ambulance. The plaintiff was injured. The plaintiff sued the City as a negligence claim and not as a health care liability claim. The City argued the claim should be dismissed for not filing the statutorily required expert report as a health care liability claim. The trial court denied the City’s motion to dismiss. The City appealed.
A claim is a health care liability claim under the Texas Medical Liability Act if the injury is caused by “(1) whether the defendant is a physician or health care provider; (2) whether the claim at issue concerns treatment, lack of treatment, or a departure from accepted standards of medical care, or health care, or safety, or professional or administrative services directly related to health care; and (3) whether the defendant’s act or omission complained of proximately caused the injury to the plaintiff.” See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 74. The Court of Appeals held that EMS for the City is a “health care provider” because emergency services providers are included in the definition of health care institution, regardless of the fact that the City is a political subdivision. Id. The Court provided a long list of health care liability claims brought against political subdivisions as examples. Next, the Court held that the claim involves an allegation with a nexus between the injuries and the provision of medical care including that the gurney was a piece of medical equipment and she was being transported for medical care when the injuries occurred. See Ross v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hosp., 462 S.W.3d 496, 505 (Tex. 2015). Finally, the Court held that the location of the injury does not determine whether it is a health care liability claim. Because the Court determined that the claim is a health care liability claim, an expert report was required, but never filed by the plaintiff. The claim should have been dismissed.
If you would like to read this opinion click here. Panel consists of Justices Kelly, Hightower, and Countiss. Opinion by Justice Julie Countiss.
