in Re the Good Shepherd Hospital, Inc. ( 2019 )

In The Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana No. 06-18-00115-CV IN RE THE GOOD SHEPHERD HOSPITAL, INC. Original Mandamus Proceeding Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Carter,* JJ. ___________________________________ *Jack Carter, Justice, Retired, Sitting by Assignment ORDER On December 28, 2018, The Good Shepherd Hospital, Inc., d/b/a Good Shepherd Medical Center of Longview (Good Shepherd), Relator, filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking an order from this Court requiring the trial court to rule on Good Shepherd’s motion to transfer venue within a reasonable time before it holds a summary judgment hearing on the motion for partial summary judgment filed by Select Specialty Hospital-Longview, Inc. (Select). On January 2, 2019, Good Shepherd filed a motion for temporary relief requesting that this Court enter a partial stay of the underlying proceedings by prohibiting the trial court from (1) conducting a hearing on Select’s motion for partial summary judgment set for Monday, January 28, 2019, (2) ruling on Select’s motion for partial summary judgment, and (3) otherwise hearing or ruling on the merits of the case pending this Court’s ruling on Good Shepherd’s petition for writ of mandamus. The trial court has also set Good Shepherd’s motion to transfer venue for hearing on January 28, 2019. Good Shepherd specifically requests that the partial stay not prohibit the trial court from holding the venue hearing on that date, from ruling on its motion to transfer venue, or from ruling on a venue motion of a party not involved in this mandamus proceeding. After reviewing the petition for writ of mandamus and the motion for temporary relief, this Court is of the opinion that the relief requested in the motion for temporary relief should be granted, in part. Accordingly, the summary judgment hearing currently scheduled for January 28, 2019, is stayed pending this Court’s decision in this mandamus action. In addition, the trial court shall not rule on Select’s motion for partial summary judgment and shall abstain from ruling on the merits 2 of the case pending this Court’s decision. In the interests of fairness to all concerned, the venue hearing currently scheduled for January 28, 2019, is also stayed pending this Court’s decision on Good Shepherd’s petition for writ of mandamus. The trial court shall abstain from ruling on Good Shepherd’s venue motion and any other venue motion filed in the trial court, pending this Court’s decision. Now, therefore, it is ordered that all summary judgment proceedings and venue proceedings in the trial court, including, but not limited to, those proceedings currently scheduled for hearing on January 28, 2019, in trial court cause number 18-0718 in the 71st Judicial District Court of Harrison County, Texas, shall be stayed pending this Court’s decision in this mandamus action. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.10. IT IS SO ORDERED. BY THE COURT Date: January 23, 2019 3