From this week’s El Paso Inc.*:
A district judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against El Paso Children’s Hospital by parents of Ivanna Maria Saucedo, an El Paso child who died at the health facility in2019 while waiting to be seen by her doctor.
. . .
In her ruling, [District Court Judge Annabell] Perez sided with the hospital’s assertion that it was “a governmental unit” — not a private entity — and that its status as “hospital district management contractor” provided it governmental immunity from lawsuits.
That means that any injured party cannot sue Children’s Hospital no matter how bad they screw up.
If, for instance, Children’s Hospital hired a sex offender who raped your daughter (or son) in their hospital room, you would have no legal recourse against the hospital.
You could sue the sex offender, but typically sex offenders don’t have a lot of resources, and presumably he’d be in prison anyway.
In a similar vein, a lawsuit against Dr. Roberto Canales, the primary doctor allegedly responsible for Ivanna Saucedo’s neglect, continues. I reckon he’s got resources, but he also has insurance, and his insurance company has lawyers. He’ll probably be dead before a judgement is levied against him.
I won’t want to paint with too broad a brush, but local governments are bastards.
*Available at your local library.