Serious violations at Bloomington’s Planned Parenthood

The following speech was given to the Bloomington City Council in June by CCFL board member Carole Canfield.

You may or may not be aware that PP was visited by the IN State Dept of Health on December 18, 2014, for the purposes of conducting a licensure survey. In that survey several serious violations were found:

To name a few:

# – Patient Records were stored improperly and not as required. They were to be in cabinets, locked, and not in file boxes on top of cabinets, under sprinkler systems as was found. In addition, they were in an area accessible to anyone, via two unlocked doors on the basement level, and no restriction from the first floor clinical areas was observed. Is THIS considered good for women?

# – Patients’ vital signs were indicated as being taken AFTER the patient had been dismissed from the recovery room. How??? Many patients had NO vitals taken following the procedures. Is THIS considered good, safe health practice for women?

# – Patients’ records were not complete. For instance, one patient had a surgical abortion and lacked history for “Bleeding order (yes or no), Diabetes (yes or no), breastfeeding (yes or not), heart disease (yes or no) hypertension (yes or no), kidney failure (yes or no), (liver disease/tumor (yes or no), drug or alcohol use in the last 24 hours (yes or no). In addition, the record lacked documentation in the “Procedure” portion of the chart for “Discharge patient from recovery room per protocol). This is only one of MANY such patients’ records cited. Required state forms for patients could not be found. Is THIS how Planned Parenthood gives exceptional care to women?

# – Medications were open and not labeled with a date. Other medications were expired. Some were opened and dated and restored with locked meds but expired and should have been destroyed.

# – Numerous violations occurred concerning the hiring practices of specific medical personnel. Proper credentials and documentation for appointments and reappointments and privileges pertaining to them were missing. Required TB testing PRIOR TO BEGINNING WORKING FOR PP on 2 of 2 staff members hired in 2014 did not happen. THIS is safe practice for women with whom they will be in contact?

# – Medical histories and exams were not performed on 8 of 10 women who had medical abortions, 13 of 20 who had surgical abortions. By eliminating these procedures, it was impossible to identify any contraindications or special conditions for the patients such as allergies to equipment, solutions, latex, not to mention any health conditions that would pre-empt these procedures.

# – Required written care policies and post-op procedures were not given to 20 of 20 patients who had surgical abortions. Hygiene instructions were not given.

# – Infection control policies were not followed for staff immune status for rubella, rubeola, nor for Hepatitis B, all communicable diseases.

# – PP failed to ensure annual competency documentation for two of three health care assistants approved to do in-house lab testing.

# – Unsanitary conditions were found throughout. Particularly in the surgery room, wall ventilation plates were coated with dust. A window in the same room had a gap 3” wide and 6” long, allowing for bugs and outside dust to enter. The floor also had a gap that did not allow for sanitary cleaning. In the clean instrument sterilizing area a significant amount of dust and particulate matter was found on top of a wall-mounted cabinet located directly over a countertop sterilizer unit.

# – The clinic manager confirmed that the dirty cabinet tops were not being routinely cleaned and were unsanitary. The white dust throughout the area was attributed to the drywall refinishing part of the extensive remodeling done SIX MONTHS EARLIER. REALLY???

These are only some of the violations that were found. I do know that PP has, as of March, indicated that some of these were corrected or would be by the end of March. On whose say? Perhaps they have been, perhaps they have not. The IN Dept of Health has confirmed that they have not yet returned to PP for a follow-up survey. And would they have been corrected AT ALL had the state not conducted the survey and found these violations? What do YOU think?

Had any other medical facility been charged with these violations (and those I haven’t mentioned), they would have been shut down on the spot. In light of this, I would urge you NOT to give an organization that RISKS women’s health ONE DIME of our hard-earned money. Women deserve BETTER than Planned Parenthood.