UPDATE: The seven-factor test outlined in Ross v. St. Luke's Hospital has been used to definitively determine that a personal injury suffered by someone in a hospital was not a health care liability claim. Reddic v. East Texas Medical Center Regional Health Care System, No. 14-0333, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 1006 (October 30, 2015)(per curiam).
Reddic, a visitor at a hospital, fell when she slipped on a floor mat between the hospital's main entrance and the front desk. Reddic sued the hospital on a premises liability theory. The hospital moved to dismiss under the Texas Medical Liability Act, claiming that Reddic asserted a health care liability claim without serving the expert report required by the Act.
The trial court denied the motion, but the court of appeals reversed, holding that Reddic asserted a health care liability claim.
The Texas Supreme Court applied the seven-factor test and determined that safety standards regarding floor maintenance in the area in question were not substantially related to patient safety as patients receive or seek treatment. The record did not show that the area in which Reddic fell was an area frequented by patients, so safety standards for maintenance of the floor and mats where she fell were not substantively related to health care.
Click here to read Strasburger's earlier blog regarding the seven-factor test outlined in Ross v. St. Luke's Hospital, 462 S.W.3d 496 (Tex. 2015).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
