Franciscan Health Crown Point has terminated the employment of a doctor and a nurse following an incident where a woman in active labor was allegedly turned away from the Indiana hospital.
Raymond Grady, President and CEO of Franciscan Health Crown Point, confirmed in a statement to People on November 21 that “The physician and the nurse directly involved with Mrs. Wells’ care are no longer employed by Franciscan.”
This comes after Mercedes Wells and her husband, Leon, visited Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital on November 16, a day after calling ahead to alert the staff. Despite their advance notice, hospital personnel allegedly instructed the couple to return home and wait for Wells’ labor to intensify, as reported by WLS.
Cell phone video captured Wells, now a mother of four, struggling to breathe in a wheelchair inside the hospital before being escorted out by security.
READ ALSO: Mother who gave birth on side of road after hospital turned her away speaks out
During an on-camera interview with CBS News Chicago, the woman recounted her arrival at the hospital, stating she was “met with really stern faces. No welcoming faces as I usually would get when I go to a hospital, or a place of care.”
Despite experiencing “excruciating pain” and “agony,” a nurse determined she was not progressed enough in labor to be admitted.
Just eight minutes after being turned away, the woman gave birth to her daughter, Alena, in her husband’s car on the side of the road.
She recalled the moment to Fox 32 Chicago, saying, “Two minutes in, I’m like, I have to push. So I start pulling my pants down. I’m like please help me, ’cause I need help pulling my pants off so I can get this baby out. I began to push, the head came out. He’s [Leon] on the phone with 911… He pulls over to catch the baby, she came out.”
The president of the facility said in his statement, “The video was difficult to watch,” adding that it “does not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point, which include respect for life and compassionate concern.”
“Compassionate concern is absent when a caregiver fails to listen to a patient who is clearly in pain and vulnerable,” he added. “We failed to listen to Mrs. Wells’ concerns. As an experienced mother who publicly acknowledged having previously given birth at our hospital with a positive experience, she knew something was not right.”
Grady continued, “We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells.”
In addition to the doctor and nurse involved being terminated, Grady has “mandated cultural competency training for all labor and delivery staff,” and mandated that “all pregnant patients leaving the Labor and Delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital.”
“On behalf of Franciscan Alliance and Franciscan Health Crown Point, I apologize to Mrs. Wells and her family for failing to live up to our Franciscan values,” Grady said. “We are committed to holding ourselves accountable through our actions so that every patient is heard and receives compassionate, equitable care. Any evidence of actions to the contrary will not be tolerated.”
Grady said he has since contacted Wells, expressing his desire to arrange a meeting with her and her husband.
Meanwhile, Wells received care at Community Hospital in Munster after giving birth to Alena in her husband’s car, according to CBS News.
The Wells family hired a lawyer, according to WFLD, claiming unfair treatment due to their race after being turned away from the hospital.
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