Franciscan Health Doctor And Nurse Fired for labor discharge
Accountability: Doctor And Nurse Fired After Kicking Black Woman Out Of Hospital During Labor
We love the smell of chickens coming home to roost in the morning.
Last week, BOSSIP reported on a harrowing experience that 38-year-old Mercedes Wells suffered at the hands of the egregiously inept staff at Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital in Indiana. Wells and her husband Leon came to the facility to have their daughter delivered only to be kicked out by a nurse who essentially denied that Wells was actually in labor.
Eight minutes after leaving the hospital, the couple of three other children delivered their baby, Alena, on the side of the road inside their vehicle. Writing that sentence still raises our blood pressure so we can’t even begin to imagine what it did to the Wells family. However, it appears that even in this s**thole country, justice can still be found.
According to NBC Chicago, Franciscan Health CEO Raymond Grady announced that the nurse in question and the doctor who co-signed the inexplicable decision were both terminated saying that they “are no longer employed by Franciscan.”
“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 said in a statement. “We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells.”
Grady continued by addressing the concerns that Black folks have had historically with this type of mistreatment at medical facilities.
“Secondly, I have mandated cultural competency training for all labor and delivery staff. Lastly, all pregnant patients leaving the Labor and Delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital,” Grady said. “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. 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.”
We’re glad to see Franciscan and Raymond Grady step up to acknowledge the harm done and immediately implement protocol to ensure that it is the last time it happens. This is what accountability looks like in practice.
