Court Opinion

ID: 9639419
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:17:13.43531+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:18.146230
License: Public Domain

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice,
dissenting.
Plaintiff alleges the defendant abandoned Dorothy Helm at the defendant’s facility “[p]rior to Hurricane Rita coming ashoref,]” thereby depriving her of food and water; as a result, plaintiff alleges, Helm died of dehydration and malnutrition. The second amended petition asserts: 3
On or about September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast area, including the town of Buna, Texas, where BUNA MEDICAL is located. Prior to Hurricane Rita coming ashore, BUNA MEDICAL abandoned many of the facility’s residents, including the elderly Decedent, at the facility. No notice of the intended abandonment was given to Plaintiff. No provision was made to prevent the obvious resulting harm. Decedent was deprived of food and water, ultimately resulting in her death. At some point, Decedent was transported to EDGEWOOD MANOR, where she died on October 10, 2005 from dehydration and malnutrition. Plaintiff attempted to locate her mother (Decedent) both *296before and after Hurricane Rita hit, to no avail. Plaintiff did not learn of the abandonment, nor was she informed of her mother’s whereabouts, until after her mother’s death, at which time she was finally contacted by an employee of EDGEWOOD MANOR.
In denying the motion to dismiss, the trial court must have presumed the pleading was filed in good faith. See generally Tex.R. Civ. P. 13 (“Courts shall presume that pleadings, motions, and other papers are filed in good faith.”). Artful pleading is not permitted, but this is a pleading of fact, and the rules provide other remedies if there is no truth to the factual allegation. The claim may be disposed of by summary judgment; sanctions are available if the claim is shown to be frivolous. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 13,166a.
Whether there is evidence to support plaintiffs allegation is not the issue in this appeal, and one that an appellate court cannot determine on this record. As a practical matter, an appellate court has no way on this limited record to independently determine whether the pleading is true. Plaintiffs pleading alleges her mother was abandoned without food and water, and that the deprivation of water and food caused her mother’s death. Plaintiff alleges that “[n]o provision was made to prevent the obvious resulting harm[,]” and “[n]o notice of the intended abandonment was given....” In her brief in this Court, she argues Helm’s “status as a nursing home patient is irrelevant, as none of the wrongful actions alleged involve any medical treatment.” Because the trial court denied the motion to dismiss and the appellate record is limited at this preliminary stage in the case, this Court should presume for purpose of appellate review that the facts pled by plaintiff in the trial court are true.
Some claims are based on acts separable from health care, and therefore are not governed by Chapter 74. See generally Diversicare Gen. Partner, Inc. v. Rubio, 185 S.W.3d 842, 854 (Tex.2005) (Statute applies to claims arising from acts or omissions “inseparable from the provision of health care.”); see also Garland Cmty. Hosp. v. Rose, 156 S.W.3d 541, 544 (Tex.2004) (“If the act or omission alleged in the complaint is an inseparable part of the rendition of health care services, then the claim is a health care liability claim.”); Holguin v. Laredo Reg’l Med. Ctr., L.P., 256 S.W.3d 349, 353 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2008, no pet.) (citing Rubio, 185 S.W.3d at 848); see also McAllen Work Rehab. Ctr. v. Gomez, No. 13-07-00466-CV, 2008 WL 2930306 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi, July 31, 2008, pet. denied); Omaha Healthcare Ctr., L.L.C. v. Johnson, 246 S.W.3d 278 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2008, pet. filed); Christus Health v. Beal, 240 S.W.3d 282 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.); Valley Baptist Med. Ctr. v. Stradley, 210 S.W.3d 770, 775-76 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2006, pet. denied); Shults v. Baptist St. Anthony’s Hosp. Corp., 166 S.W.3d 502, 505 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 2005, pet. denied); Rogers v. Crossroads Nursing Serv., Inc., 13 S.W.3d 417, 420 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1999, no pet.); Shannon v. Law-Yone, 950 S.W.2d 429, 437-38 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 1997, writ denied). Leaving a nursing home resident without food and water may be an act separable from health care. While a nursing home does not merely provide shelter, food, and water, it does provide them, and its duties concerning food, water, and shelter are not governed solely by health care industry standards. Plaintiff does not allege a health care decision was made that Helm should be denied food and water; and plaintiff does not allege that Helm was given limited amounts of food and water. She makes one different allegation, an ex*297treme one asserting intentional conduct that requires no expert testimony or report as to the standard of care. To the extent the trial court denied appellant’s motion to dismiss a claim possibly separable from health care, the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
This case presents a difficulty inherent in Chapter 74. Discovery is limited before a motion to dismiss is filed under the statute, and the record is therefore limited on appeal. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.351(s) (Vernon Supp.2008). The pleadings become paramount.4 One of the claims made here is of an intentional injury. When presented with a pleading that asserts different causes of action, some claims involving health care and one that possibly does not, this Court should enforce the report requirement for health care claims and remand any separable claim to the trial court for further proceedings. We have done that before and should do that here. See, e.g., Empowerment Options, Inc. v. Easley, No. 09-06-148CV, 2006 WL 3239527, at *4 (Tex.App.-Beaumont, Nov. 9, 2006, pet.denied) (alternative “intentional abuse claim”).

. After the filing of the defendant's motion to dismiss, the plaintiff filed tire second amended petition.

. Appellant argues that we should consider the plaintiff's prior pleadings, because they clearly assert a health care liability claim. See, e.g., Granek v. Tex. State Bd. of Med. Exam’rs, 172 S.W.3d 761, 766 n. 2. (Tex.App.-Austin 2005, no pet.). Those pleadings have been abandoned by amendment. The question presented concerns the trial court's refusal, at this stage, to dismiss the claim currently pled.