In Health Care Authority for
Baptist Health v. Davis, No. 1090084 (Ala. Feb. 28, 2014), the Alabama
Supreme Court reversed course and, upon reconsideration, determined that a
private hospital which entered into an agreement with UAB or the University of
Alabama to manage the facility with the private entity regaining possession of
the property upon termination of the agreement did not enjoy sovereign
immunity.
The gist of the analysis was that a franchise was created, as opposed to
the hospital becoming an agency or arm of the state. One gets the sense that the hospital could
only become a state agency or entity if a state agency fully purchased the
hospital and renamed the facility, for example, as UAB-Montgomery.
Additionally, the Supreme Court held the $100,000 cap applicable to
municipalities and counties could not be constitutionally extended to the HCA
which was not created by municipalities or counties.
