Health Care Service Corp. v. East Texas Medical Center, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4538

ETMC (a not-for-profit full-service hospital) repeatedly sought inclusion in BCBS’s PPO since 1993 and was excluded as of 2015.
ETMC sued BCBS (and others) in June 2015 alleging breach of duties and interference with prospective business relations; trial set for November 2016.
After Moody’s and Fitch downgraded ETMC’s bonds (citing declining revenues amplified by out-of-network status), ETMC moved for a temporary mandatory injunction requiring BCBS to place ETMC in its PPO.
At the injunction hearing, ETMC presented lay testimony from its CFO (Byron Hale) and a board physician (Dr. Steven Rydzak) that continued losses (about $16M in FY2015) threatened programs and could force service cuts; ETMC financial statements showed $286.9M cash and a $140.6M cash surplus above bond covenant requirements as of Sept. 30, 2015.
The trial court granted a mandatory temporary injunction ordering BCBS to list ETMC as in-network and allow immediate PPO participation pending trial; BCBS appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether ETMC proved a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury before trial such that a mandatory injunction altering the status quo was justified	ETMC argued immediate injunctive relief was necessary to prevent imminent closure or severe service cuts and to preserve community health services until trial	BCBS argued ETMC failed to produce probative evidence that it would close or cut services before the November 2016 trial, so altering the status quo was an abuse of discretion	Court held ETMC failed to prove probable, imminent, and irreparable injury; the mandatory temporary injunction was an abuse of discretion and was dissolved

Butnaru v. Ford Motor Co., 84 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. 2002) (elements required for temporary injunction).
In re Newton, 146 S.W.3d 648 (Tex. 2004) (definition of status quo for injunctions).
Cannan v. Green Oaks Apts., Ltd., 758 S.W.2d 753 (Tex. 1988) (status quo definition).
Tri-Star Petroleum Co. v. Tipperary Corp., 101 S.W.3d 583 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2003) (mandatory injunction proper only to prevent irreparable injury/extreme hardship).
Reid Road Mun. Util. Dist. No. 2 v. Speedy Stop Food Stores, Ltd., 337 S.W.3d 846 (Tex. 2011) (distinguishing lay vs. expert opinion testimony).
Ethicon, Inc. v. Martinez, 835 S.W.2d 826 (Tex. App.—Austin 1992) (opinion must be rationally based on observed facts).
Havner v. E-Z Mart Stores, Inc., 825 S.W.2d 456 (Tex. 1992) (speculative testimony has no probative value).
Coastal Transport Co. v. Crown Central Petroleum Corp., 136 S.W.3d 227 (Tex. 2004) (speculative testimony inadmissible/no probative value).
Nat. Gas Pipeline Co. of Am. v. Justiss, 397 S.W.3d 150 (Tex. 2012) (applying Coastal to lay witness testimony).