We granted an application for interlocutory appeal to review the trial court’s denial of the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this slip-and-fall action. Vera Pettigrew brought this action against Sunlink Health Systems, Inc., d/b/a Memorial Hospital of Adel “the hospital”, asserting that she was injured when she slipped and fell while entering the hospital. She alleged negligent design, construction, and maintenance, failure to inspect, and failure to warn regarding the condition of the entrance area. After discovery, the hospital moved for summary judgment. The trial court denied the motion in a one-sentence order and granted a certificate of immediate review. Because the evidence demonstrates that Pettigrew was not exposed by the hospital to any unreasonable risk of harm, we reverse. Construed to support the nonmovant, the evidence shows that Pettigrew was an employee of the hospital for 12 years, working as a custodian between 1983 and 1995. On March 5, 2003, she came to the hospital to visit her sister, who was a patient, on a morning when it was “pouring down rain.” Pettigrew parked her car and approached the hospital building through the main entrance, the same parking area and entrance that she used while working at the hospital. At the main entrance, a slanted curb or short ramp leads up from a circular driveway to the area in front of the doors. While the photograph of the entrance shows what appears to be an awning or roof shading the doorway, it is also apparent that the area is open to the elements.
As Pettigrew approached the entrance and after she negotiated the curb, she noticed an older man having difficulty opening the door. She stepped around him to open the door for him, and as she did so her “foot slipped out from under” her. Because she was concerned about the man, she “didn’t pay attention to the area if it was wet . . . . I didn’t even look down.” She testified that she believed it was the “wet concrete” that caused her to fall. Pettigrew never testified that any sloping surface or the configuration of the entrance caused her to fall. Instead, she testified that the concrete was very slippery, and she believed this was caused by the rain and the air from inside the doors coming in contact with the concrete.1
