Woman who gave birth in car after being turned away from hospital meets with administrators
A woman who was turned away from an Indiana hospital while in labor last month, only to give birth minutes later in her car, met with hospital administrators on Thursday, and is continuing to push for more accountability.
Officials at Franciscan Health Crown Point had a much different view of their meeting than Mercedes Wells' family and their attorney, who said there is a clear disconnect with the hospital over why she was discharged despite being in labor.
Just weeks ago, Mercedes gave birth to her daughter in the car as her husband, Leo, called 911. Minutes earlier, Mercedes – who was in labor with contractions less than a minute apart – was discharged from Franciscan.
"We are not getting seen, we're not getting heard. It's just a replay of the same day," Leo said.
On Thursday, the family and their attorney, Cannon Lambert Sr., met with hospital administrators about the incident.
"We seem to have a different perspective as to what should happen," Lambert said.
"We wanted to see why it happened. We wanted to see why, and what was going to change," Leo said. "We still have a lot to work on," Leon said.
The doctor and nurse who turned Mercedes away were fired days later, but Lambert said the nurses who rolled her out of the hospital in a wheelchair also failed her.
"They were the last line of defense. They were the last two nurses that had an opportunity to sort of stop this from happening, and they didn't do that," Lambert said.
The hospital's president, Raymond Grady, said cultural competency training is now required for all labor and delivery staff.
In a statement, Grady said, "After spending time with the Wells family, I am even more confident that we share the same goals, to ensure every patient is heard and receives compassionate, equitable care."
Since the incident, pregnant patients leaving the labor and delivery unit at Franciscan must be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital.
The Wells family and their attorney said they plan to meet with the hospital again in about two weeks.