| Inglewood: Charting the Deterioration | |
 | |
Well, we've begun our look at Inglewood Women's Hospital Clinic Center What-have-you. We've looked at the women who died after abortions at the Inglewood entity. We've reviewed the five-minute abortion. Now we'll look at what officials found in various inspections of the Inglewood entity over the years. Note: The Inglewood entity is Acme Reproductive Services 36 in Lime 5. A March 1978 inspection found: Mind you, this was after the deaths of Kathy Murphy, Lynette Wallace, and Elizabeth Tsuji. Elizabeth Tsuji, in fact, had died only the month prior to this inspection. The inspection also found no documentation that the physician director was coordinating respiratory care services, and respiratory care diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were not being provided. The facility was also conducting outpatient surgical services without having applied for a license to do so. The dietetic supervisor was not qualified to do the job, syringes and needles were not being rendered unusable in the recovery room, and the facility had an inadequate disaster plan. Although these are not scathing condemnations in and of themselves, together with the three patient deaths already to Inglewood's discredit, they helped to paint a picture of a facility that could not be trusted to provide appropriate patient care. Yet Inglewood remained in business. (Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction) Inspector returned in November of 1978 -- three days after the abortion that eventually killed Cora Lewis -- and found: Rather than correcting the lack of equipment in recovery room and the missing radiology equipment, Inglewood had slid further into noncompliance. The facility was still using an unqualified dietetic supervisor, and still failing to render syringes and needles unsuable -- although now the syringes and needles were lying openly about at the nurses' station rather than in the recovery room. And a new area of noncompliance was noted: consent forms for sterilizations did not have physician signature, date, and time. And before you dismiss the unqualified dietetic supervisor, remember that at the time, patients were being kept overnight, and were depending upon Inglewood to provide adequate nutrition to get their bodies through the stress of an abortion. The leftover food was not dated, meaning that patients might be served spoiled food. The door seal on the refrigerator had deteriorated, meaning that even recently obtained or prepared food might not have been stored at a safe temperature. And, inspectors noted, the "wall behind the dishwasher was covered with soot and smoke as from a fire." What, I wonder, was going on in Inglewood's kitchen? (Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction 11/7/78) Cora Mae Lewis was hospitalized for post-abortion infection on November 11, and finally died on December 3, of 1978. And the Inglewood abortion mill ground on. Continued on Page 2. **** Visit the RealChoice blog
Like this link graphic? Click here to learn how to add it to your web page.
|
|