Franciscan Health Crown Point fire doctor and nurse who denied pregnant woman in labor admission, only for woman to give birth 8 minutes later by the side of the road.
A doctor and nurse at a Northwest Indiana hospital in Crown Point have been fired after denying an expectant mother visibly in labor and moments away from giving birth earlier this week.
Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady in a released statement, said the hospital ‘had listened’ and decided to part ways with the doctor and nurse directly involved in the laboring pregnant woman’s care.
According to Mercedes Sheri Wells, 38, the Chicago mom, visiting family in Indiana, suddenly went into labor, two weeks before her due date, only for the visibly distressed expectant mom to be discharged from the Crown Point medical facility amid claims she ‘was not far enough along’.
How did a Crowne Point, Indiana hospital get it so wrong?
Less than eight minutes later, Mercedes Wells gave birth along the side of the road.
Mercedes Wells a mother of four said she knew something was wrong when she went to the hospital to give birth after calling ahead only for staff to keep her in the reception area instead of putting her in labor and into the delivery room.
Wells spent the next six hours in the lobby until her contractions were just one minute apart before incredulously being told to go home after a nurse insisting she ‘was not far enough along.’
In the release, CEO Raymond Grady promised mandatory cultural competency training for delivery staff along with mandating that all pregnant patients must be examined by a physician before leaving the hospital.
‘The recent video shared on social media does not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point, which include respect for life and compassionate concern,’ Grady said in a statement. ‘Respect for life can be compromised when a mother and baby are prematurely discharged. … Compassionate concern is absent when a caregiver fails to listen to a patient who is clearly in pain and vulnerable. The video was difficult to watch.’
How can a hospital turn away someone in excruciating pain and moments away from giving birth?
Mercedes Wells spent nearly six hours at Franciscan Health Crown Point, where her contractions began coming one minute apart, before she was told she was being discharged.
Wells was on her way to another hospital in Munster, Indiana, when roughly eight minutes later her husband, Leon Wells, delivered their baby on the side of the road. According a recent post on Facebook, the baby, Alena, is doing well.
At a news conference Tuesday, the Wells family demanded Franciscan Health Crown Point be held accountable for the actions that led up to Wells being refused medical care.
‘I just don’t understand how, as a licensed health care worker, you could turn someone to the door to leave that’s in excruciating pain,’ Wells said. ‘I was stripped of my dignity as a person because I was treated less than an animal.’
Her attorney, Cannon Lambert, questioned how Wells was turned away on supposed doctor’s orders, despite her never having been being seen by a doctor.
Mistreated because of their race?
‘Can we agree that a woman in active labor should not be sent away without first being seen by a doctor?’ Lambert said according to WTTW.
The family further claimed that they were mistreated because of their race.
‘I was stripped of my dignity. As a person, I was treated less than an animal,’ Wells said.
Lambert on Friday questioned why it took nearly a week to let the doctor and nurse go. He challenged the hospital’s commitment to accountability, saying that ‘reacting to public outcry is not accountability.’ He also said he believes onlookers who work at the hospital and failed to intervene should be disciplined.
The incident sparked conversations around medical racism experienced by Black women in the U.S. as it came just days after a pregnant black woman in Texas had medical care delayed.
