Opinion By Justice MOSELEY.
Appellee Angela Sue Mathis sued appellant Nexus Recovery Center, Inc. pursuant to chapter 81 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which relates to sexual exploitation by a mental health services provider. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. §§ 81.001-.0010 (West 2005). The issue in this appeal is whether her causes of action are also health care liability claims, and thus subject to the expert report requirements of section 74.351 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. See id. § 74.351 (West Supp. 2010). Based on our analysis of the essence of her causes of action, including the alleged wrongful conduct and the duties allegedly breached, we conclude they are not. Thus, we affirm the trial court's order denying Nexus's motion to dismiss.
For purposes of appeal, we take our factual recitation from the allegations in Mathis's pleadings. Nexus is a residential and outpatient treatment center for women with alcohol and drug problems. Mathis enrolled in a residential treatment program at Nexus in March 2005. She was pregnant, suicidal over the death of the baby's father, and concerned over the pregnancy.
Nexus assigned Oletha Morrow to Mathis to provide counseling services to her. Mathis "knew that Ms. Morrow was bisexual based on their prior conversations, but was not otherwise concerned by this knowledge. [Mathis] did observe behavior on Ms. Morrow's part that she perceived to be flirtatious."
Mathis's baby was born in early June 2005, and Mathis remained at Nexus for the next two weeks. After Mathis left Nexus, Morrow frequently contacted her and "expressed amorous feelings" towards her. During the first week of September 2005, Mathis moved into an apartment, and later that month she had surgery. Approximately one week later, Morrow went to Mathis's apartment and "initiated an intimate sexual relationship."
Thereafter, Mathis became dependent on and emotionally attached to Morrow. Mathis gave Morrow money from her disability payments with which to pay Mathis's bills, and Morrow took other money. However, in mid-March 2006, Mathis became suspicious that Morrow was taking advantage of her and became suicidal and despondent. Mathis reported her concerns to Nexus, which investigated the circumstances and fired Morrow.
Mathis filed suit in March 2008, alleging a cause of action against Nexus for negligence,
Four months later Mathis amended her pleadings. The pleaded facts were unchanged, but instead Mathis alleged that Morrow's actions and Nexus's omissions violated chapter 81 of the civil practice and remedies code. Specifically, she alleged she suffered mental and emotional injury caused by, resulting from, or arising out of "sexual contact" between her and Morrow, and "sexual exploitation" and "therapeutic deception" of her by Morrow, as those terms are defined by statute. Mathis also alleged that Nexus failed to make inquiries of Morrow's former employer concerning her possible prior sexual exploitation of patients or former patients, and that Nexus knew or had reason to know of Morrow's sexual exploitation of her and failed to report it as required or failed to take necessary action to prevent or stop it. She alleged that Nexus's failure to take such actions was a proximate and actual cause of her damages.
Nexus filed a motion to dismiss because Mathis failed to file an expert report within the deadlines imposed by section 75.351, which applies to health care liability claims.
Nexus appeals. See id. § 51.014(a)(9) (West 2008); TEX.R.APP. P. 26.1(b). In a single issue, it contends the trial court erred by denying its motion to dismiss for failure to comply with section 74.351.
Whether a cause of action is a health care liability claim is a question of law. Dual D Healthcare Operations, Inc. v. Kenyon, 291 S.W.3d 486, 488 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2009, no pet.); see Marks v. St. Luke's Episcopal Hosp., 319 S.W.3d 658, 663 (Tex.2010) (explaining principles of statutory construction).
To determine whether a cause of action is a health care liability claim we examine the underlying nature of the claim. Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664 (citing Garland Cmty. Hosp. v. Rose, 156 S.W.3d 541, 543 (Tex.2004)); Dual D Healthcare Operations, Inc., 291 S.W.3d at 489. We focus on the essence of the claim and consider the alleged wrongful conduct and the duties allegedly breached. See Diversicare Gen. Partner, Inc. v. Rubio, 185 S.W.3d 842, 851 (Tex.2005). When the essence of the suit is a health care liability claim, a party cannot avoid the requirements of the statute through artful pleading. Garland Cmty. Hosp., 156 S.W.3d at 543; see Yamada v. Friend, 335 S.W.3d 192, 194-95, 196-97, 197-98 (Tex.2010) (unchallenged holding that claims encompassing physician's safety advice to water park were health care liability claims required dismissal of all claims arising from same facts on theory of improper claim-splitting).
As applicable to this case, a health care liability claim is a cause of action against a health care provider or physician
TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 74.001(a)(13) (West 2005). "Health care" is defined as "any act or treatment performed or furnished, or that should have been performed or furnished, by any health care provider for, to, or on behalf of a patient during the patient's medical care, treatment, or confinement." Id. § 74.001(a)(10).
Not every cause of action for personal injuries or death arising in a health care setting is a health care liability claim. See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664. In Diversicare General Partner, Inc., 185 S.W.3d at 846-47, the supreme court considered the definition of "health care liability claim" found in the predecessor statute to chapter 74, the Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act ("MLIIA"). See Act of May 30, 1977, 65th Leg., R.S., ch. 817, § 1.03(a)(4), 1977 Tex. Gen. Laws 2039, 2041 (defining "health care liability claim"; codified at former article 4590i, section 1.03(a)(4) of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes; subsequently amended), repealed by
The supreme court revisited the MLIIA's definition of "health care liability claim" in Marks—this time to address the meaning of the statutory phrase "a claimed departure from accepted standards of . . . safety." See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 662-63 (citing former article 4590i, section 1.03(a)(4)). In that case a patient was injured when he fell from an allegedly improperly assembled and maintained hospital bed. See id. at 660.
The court observed that a health care liability claim under the MLIIA consists of three elements:
Id. at 664. In the context of the case before it, the court rephrased the second element as "whether the hospital's alleged failure to provide its patient a safe bed implicates certain accepted standards embodied in the definition of a health care liability claim." Id. at 662 (emphasis added). The court then summarized its prior analysis in Diversicare General Partner, Inc. and applied that same analysis to the "safety" issue before it:
Id. at 664 (citations omitted, emphasis added). The supreme court then concluded:
Id. (citation omitted, emphasis added).
We conclude this language, written in the context of the MLIIA, is equally applicable to chapter 74.
We do not address the viability of Mathis's causes of action against Nexus under chapter 81.
Chapter 81 creates a cause of action in favor of a patient or former patient against a mental health services provider for:
TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 81.002. Other provisions of chapter 81 define the terms "sexual contact," "sexual exploitation," and "therapeutic deception."
Id. § 81.003(a). The employer or former employer is liable "only to the extent that the failure to take the action described by Subsection (a) . . . was a proximate and actual cause of damages sustained." Id. § 81.003(c).
For purposes of this appeal, it is undisputed that Nexus is a health care provider within the meaning of chapter 74. See id. § 74.001(a)(11), (12)(A). Thus Mathis's causes of action meet the first element of a health care liability claim. There is also no dispute—for purposes of this appeal— as to the third, or proximate cause, element of her causes of action. See id. § 74.001(a)(13). As to the second element, it is undisputed that Morrow and Nexus are not physicians. And we do not read Mathis's petition as asserting causes of action against Nexus for a "claimed departure from accepted standards of medical care." Id. (emphasis added); see id. § 74.001(a)(19) (defining "medical care" as the practice of medicine, including diagnosis and treatment by a licensed physician).
Thus, the issue before us is whether Mathis's causes of action against Nexus are for claimed departures from accepted standards of either: (1) "health care"; or (2) "safety or professional or administrative services directly related to health care." See id. § 74.001(a)(13). We examine the underlying nature of the plaintiff's claims, see Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664, including the alleged wrongful conduct and the duties allegedly breached, see Diversicare Gen. Partner, Inc., 185 S.W.3d at 851, to determine whether there is a substantial and direct relationship between the alleged injury-causing event—a negligent act or omission or the patient's exposure to some other risk of harm—and the patient's care or treatment. See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664. Such a substantial and direct relationship exists if the complained-of act, omission, or unsafe condition or thing is an inseparable or integral part of the patient's medical care or health care. See id.
Mathis's causes of action are based on allegations of wrongful conduct—
Mathis does not allege Morrow failed to provide appropriate mental health care services during her confinement at Nexus, or that the mental health care services she provided were rendered incompetently. She does not allege Morrow injured her while she was receiving treatment at Nexus or that she was injured by any act that took place while she was receiving treatment there. In fact, she does not complain of Morrow's conduct during her care and treatment at Nexus at all.
Rather, Mathis alleges that some months after she was no longer a patient at Nexus, Morrow engaged in sexual contact, sexual exploitation, and therapeutic deception, as those terms are defined by statute,
Mathis's allegations concerning Morrow's alleged actions "relate" to Mathis's health care only in the sense that Mathis and Morrow first met when Mathis was a patient at Nexus. They are not about her treatment, lack of treatment, or some other departure from accepted standards of "health care." See id. § 74.001(a)(13). Indeed, Morrow's alleged actions do not concern Mathis's health care at all—that is, they are not about "any act or treatment performed or furnished, or that should have been performed or furnished, by [Morrow] during [Mathis's] medical care, treatment, or confinement." See id. § 74.001(a)(10) (defining "health care").
We also conclude Mathis's allegations as to Morrow are not about a claimed "departure from accepted standards of . . . safety or professional or administrative services directly related to health care." See id. § 74.001(a)(13) (emphasis added); see also id. § 74.001(a)(10). We agree the relevant standards of conduct under section 81.002 regulate the relationship between a mental health care provider and a patient both during and after the patient's treatment. Again, however, Morrow's alleged actions took place well after Mathis was no longer Morrow's—or Nexus's—patient and at locations other than Nexus's premises. Thus the "standards of safety or professional or administrative services" set forth in section 81.002—from which Morrow allegedly deviated by her post-treatment relationship with Mathis—do not directly relate to Mathis's health care.
Our conclusions are bolstered by the fact that expert testimony from a medical or health care professional is unnecessary to determine the propriety of Morrow's actions. See Diversicare Gen. Partner, Inc., 185 S.W.3d at 848 (necessity of expert testimony may be a factor in determining
In summary, there is not a "substantial and direct relationship" between Morrow's alleged actions—the acts, omissions, or unsafe conditions or things that are the gravamen of Mathis's causes of action against Nexus (or at least of the first element of those causes of action)—and Mathis's care or treatment. Certainly they do not constitute an "inseparable or integral part" of Mathis's health care. See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664. Morrow's alleged conduct is not directly related to Mathis's care and treatment. As a result, Mathis's allegations concerning Morrow's conduct do not—of their own accord—render her claims against Nexus "health care liability claims" under chapter 74. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 74.001(a)(13).
We now turn to whether the second element of Mathis's causes of action against Nexus, that is, Nexus's own actions, renders those causes of action health care liability claims.
Again, Mathis does not complain of the care and treatment she received while a patient, nor does she allege any injuries resulting from her health care. Instead, she first alleges that Nexus failed to make inquiries of Morrow's former employer(s) concerning possible occurrences of sexual exploitation by Morrow of patients or former patients, and thus failed to comply with section 81.003(a)(1). See id. § 81.003(a)(1). This alleged conduct does not concern any "act or treatment performed or furnished, or that should have been performed or furnished, by [Nexus] for, to, or on behalf of [Mathis] during [Mathis's] medical care, treatment, or confinement." Id. at § 74.001(a)(10) (defining "health care"). Thus, her claim is not about her treatment, lack of treatment, or some other departure from accepted standards of "health care." See id. § 74.001(a)(13). For the same reasons, we also conclude Mathis's "failure to inquire" allegations as to Nexus are not about a claimed "departure from accepted standards of . . . safety or professional or administrative services directly related to health care." See id. (emphasis added). Rather, Nexus's alleged acts here involve conduct incidental to its general administrative and personnel activities. Those acts may be "related" to Mathis's care or treatment, but they do not constitute or implicate an "inseparable or integral part" of that care or treatment. See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664.
Again, our conclusions are bolstered by the fact that expert testimony from a medical or health care professional is unnecessary to determine the propriety of Nexus's
We conclude the complained-of act, omission, or unsafe condition or thing that is the subject of Mathis's first cause of action against Nexus—Nexus's alleged failure to inquire about Morrow—is not an inseparable or integral part of Mathis's medical care or health care. See id. at 664. There is not a substantial and direct relationship between Nexus's alleged failure to inquire of Morrow's former employer(s) and Mathis's care or treatment. See id. Thus, Nexus's alleged conduct that is the gravamen of her first cause of action against Nexus does not implicate accepted standards of "health care" or of "safety or professional or administrative services directly related to health care. . . ." TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 74.001(a)(13) (emphasis added).
We now turn to Mathis's second cause of action against Nexus. There she complains that Nexus knew or had reason to know of Morrow's alleged sexual exploitation of her, but failed to report it as required and to take necessary action to prevent or stop it. Again, it is undisputed that Morrow's alleged sexual exploitation giving rise to Mathis's damages did not begin until several months after Mathis was no longer receiving health care from or at Nexus. Thus, any actual or imputed knowledge on Nexus's part—and thus any concomitant obligation to report, prevent, or stop Morrow—did not begin until several months after Mathis was no longer Nexus's patient.
For the same reasons set forth above with respect to Mathis's "failure to inquire" cause of action, we conclude that Nexus's alleged conduct giving rise to Mathis's "failure to report/prevent/stop" cause of action does not concern "any act or treatment performed or furnished, or that should have been performed or furnished, by any health care provider during the patient's medical care, treatment, or confinement." Id. § 74.001(a)(10) (defining "health care").
In support of its position that Mathis's claims are health care liability claims, Nexus relies on NCED Mental Health, Inc. v. Kidd, 214 S.W.3d 28 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2006, no pet.). There, the plaintiff alleged that while she was a resident patient at NCED's facility and heavily sedated, she was sexually assaulted numerous times by a mental health technician on NCED's staff. Id. at 31. In addition to other claims,
Id. at 36.
However, the sexual misconduct in NCED Mental Health, Inc. took place
In support of its argument that Mathis's claims are health care liability claims, Nexus also cites to other cases involving alleged physical assaults concerning a patient. In all of those cases, the assault took place while the plaintiff was either a patient of the health care provider or injured by a patient under the care of the health care provider and at the health care provider's facility.
Nexus argues that, by asserting liability under chapter 81 instead of under negligence theories, Mathis has improperly re-pleaded her claim in an effort to avoid chapter 74, the medical liability statute. Specifically, Nexus argues that Mathis merely recast her original claims as alleged violations of chapter 81, but the gravamen of her claims is that Nexus failed properly to hire, train, supervise, and retain Morrow, failed to provide Mathis with
A party cannot avoid the requirements of the statute through artful pleading. Yamada, 335 S.W.3d at 195-96; Garland Cmty. Hosp., 156 S.W.3d at 543. Thus, changes in the theories of recovery alleged will not avoid the scope of the medical liability statute if it is applicable. Mathis did amend her pleadings to change the theories of liability she asserted. However, she did not materially change the factual allegations underlying her causes of action.
As discussed above, our conclusion is based on the application of chapter 74 to the alleged wrongful conduct and the duties allegedly breached, independent of the specific theories of liability Mathis asserted. See Dual D Healthcare Operations, Inc., 291 S.W.3d at 489. We have examined, at length and in detail, the nature of the relationship between Mathis's health care and the actions and omissions that are the subject of her complaints. As set forth above, we have concluded that there is not a substantial and direct relationship between those acts and omissions and Mathis's care and treatment. They do not constitute inseparable or integral parts of Mathis's health care. See Marks, 319 S.W.3d at 664.
For the same reason, Nexus's observation as to the inseparability of its health care and its staff—although axiomatic—is off-target. Although Nexus is a health care provider, not all of its actions or omissions constitute inseparable or integral parts of the health care it provides its patients. See id.
For the reasons set forth above, we conclude Mathis's causes of action against Nexus are not health care liability claims, and thus are not subject to the expert report requirements of section 74.351. We conclude the trial court did not err in denying Nexus's motion to dismiss. We resolve Nexus's sole issue against it and affirm the trial court's order.
"Sexual exploitation" means:
Id. § 81.001(5).
"Therapeutic deception" means "a representation by a mental health services provider that sexual contact with, or sexual exploitation by, the mental health services provider is consistent with, or a part of, a patient's or former patient's treatment." Id. § 81.001(6).