A doctor and nurse involved in an incident where a Chicago mother was discharged prematurely from a northwest Indiana hospital are no longer employed there, according to an announcement from the president and CEO of Franciscan Health Crown Point on Friday.
Mercedes Wells recounted her experience, stating she became concerned when she arrived at the hospital to deliver her baby and was not placed in a designated labor and delivery room.
According to Wells, aged 38, she endured six hours at the facility as her contractions intensified to just a minute apart. Despite this, a nurse instructed her to leave. Merely eight minutes after departing, Wells delivered her baby in her car.
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In response, Franciscan Health Crown Point’s President and CEO, Raymond Grady, disclosed that the hospital has not only dismissed the staff involved but also implemented mandatory cultural competency training for all personnel in the labor and delivery department.
Grady further stated that every expectant mother departing from the labor and delivery unit will undergo a physician’s examination prior to leaving the hospital.
“On behalf of Franciscan Alliance and Franciscan Health Crown Point, I apologize to Mrs. Wells and her family for failing to uphold our Franciscan values. We are dedicated to ensuring accountability through our actions, ensuring every patient receives compassionate, equitable care,” the statement read. “Any deviation from these standards will not be tolerated. We have reached out to the family and I hope to meet with them in person very soon.”
Baby Alena Wells is doing well, her mother said.
But Wells said earlier this week she is still deeply disturbed that she had to give birth on the side of the road early Sunday morning after being forced to leave Franciscan Health in Crown Point, Indiana
Wells is an experienced mother who just gave birth to her fourth child. She says she was in a lot of pain and knew the baby was coming soon. But, she says, the nurse told her to leave.
“I was in excruciating pain. She seen me in pain and agony, and I guess she still perceived me to not be in labor,” Wells said. “Upon returning to the room she’s like ‘Well, if you aren’t further along in your centimeters then, you know, we gotta send you home.””
Wells’ mother shared video she took as her daughter was being wheeled out of the hospital, accompanied by security.
Wells, who lives in Chicago, says she was visiting Indiana two weeks before her due date when she felt like it was time. They chose the closest hospital. But when they made her leave, her husband, Leon, was driving them to the next closest hospital in Munster when the baby started to emerge.
“In God’s grace, I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t have a medical license or anything to have a baby,” he said.
Fortunately, things worked out, and baby Alena arrived safely. But the couple and their attorney, Cannon Lambert, say this is not the way it was supposed to happen.
“We can agree a woman is active labor should not be sent away without seeing a doctor,” Lambert said.
During a news conference with their lawyer, the family said 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.
Mercedes and Leon Wells say, at this point, they have not considered legal action.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
