$15 Million Verdict for Family of Nurse Killed Outside Her Houston Hospital

Leny Rey Chan spent more than 30 years as a nurse at Houston Northwest Medical Center (HNMC). On March 17, 2015, she was walking from the hospital's northeast exit to a parking lot the hospital provided across Cali Drive, a county-maintained road. The nearest marked crosswalks were at each end of the block. The hospital entrance sat midblock, and employees routinely crossed there rather than walking to a corner. A vehicle struck Chan in the roadway. She died from her injuries.

The family's lawyers, including Steve Kherkher, argued at trial that HNMC had known about the hazard for years. Between 2008 and 2012 several vehicle-pedestrian collisions had occurred at that same crossing. The hospital had requested safety improvements from Harris County, which declined to act, but took no independent steps to redirect foot traffic or close the informal crossing point. The jury found that knowledge sufficient to establish liability.

In 2018 the jury returned a $15 million verdict: $10 million to Chan's husband Francis and $2.5 million to each of their two sons. The jury allocated fault at 40 percent to the driver, 30 percent to Harris County, 20 percent to HNMC, and 10 percent to Chan herself. The trial court entered judgment on the verdict. Chan's family had separately settled with the driver and his employer, Siemens Medical Solutions.

HNMC appealed. In December 2021 the Texas 14th Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, holding that the hospital owed pedestrians a duty of reasonable care given its prior knowledge of accidents at the crossing location. The appeals court found the evidence legally and factually sufficient to support the jury's findings.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed in January 2024. The court held that property owners have no general duty to make adjoining public roadways safe, and that HNMC's duty extended only to conditions within areas it actually controlled. Because the collision occurred in the county road itself, not in any area HNMC controlled, the court rendered a take-nothing judgment in the hospital's favor. The $15 million award did not stand.