When a center closes but we only had a few reviews for it, we simply delete it from our listings. When there were substantial problems, we either move it or copy it to this page. Listings are in alphabetical order by state and then city.
Iowa: Dubuque
Article from the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque:
Planned Parenthood leaves records in Dubuque; info of 2,500 potentially exposed
by Jeff Montgomery, July 6, 2016
Excerpt:
About 2,500 patients of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s now-closed Dubuque center recently were notified that their health records might have been among those left behind when the facility closed in April.
Public Relations Manager Rachel Lopez said hard copies of patient information were inadvertently left at the building at 3365 Hillcrest Road and that they might have been accessed by unauthorized parties following the center’s closure and ensuing building sale. . .
The documents were found by the building’s new owner May 6. Lopez said Planned Parenthood sent letters to all affected patients Friday, July 1 — nearly two months after the discovery . . .
Executive Director Kris Nauman said the documents were discovered during a May 6 final walk-through at the facility. Clarity Clinic closed on the building purchase later that day.
The medical information was located in a closet in “copy paper boxes” that were not sealed, she said.
Article from the Des Moines Register:
Patient records left at closed Dubuque Planned Parenthood center
by the Associated Press, July 6, 2016
Pennsylvania – Warminster
Clinic Conditions
The facility improperly stored sterile surgical supplies and kept them in an unsanitary manner. There were no temperature, humidity, or ventilation monitors observed in this area where sterile wrapped packages were stored.
The facility failed to store clean scrubs to minimize contamination from surface contact.
Soiled and dirty linens were stored with clean ones.
Soiled linens weren’t washed at a high enough temperature to kill microbes and prevent infections.
There were no policies to conduct routine preventative maintenance on equipment.
The facility failed to monitor temperature and humidity in its operating rooms or the recovery room.
There were no call bells or intercom systems in the operating room or in patient bathrooms, interfering with summoning help in an emergency. A bathroom door also opened inward, possibly preventing access in an emergency.
There were no cubicle curtains for privacy in the recovery room.
The soiled work area and the clean work area weren’t physically separated.
There were no scrub sinks located outside of the operating rooms. The sinks inside the procedure rooms were not hands-free.
The facility failed to ensure all required emergency equipment was available in two of the procedure rooms for resuscitation measures when surgery was performed. Emergency supplies were missing from the crash cart.
Staff
The facility failed to conduct background checks on its employees.
The facility failed to have a Director of Nursing who was responsible and accountable to the person in charge of the facility.
Half of the employees weren’t trained in the operation of the fire warning system, the proper use of firefighting equipment, and the procedure to follow if the electric power was impaired.
Two of the staff did not have hepatitis B vaccines. The facility was required to offer the shot to any worker who had contact with blood or bodily fluids. There was no indication that the shots were offered, but both the staff members had requested them.
Medical Records and Labels
The facility failed to ensure the post-operative surgical reports were written or dictated immediately after the procedure by the operating practitioner for 20 of 20 medical records reviewed.
The facility didn’t have discharge summaries for patients in any of the medical records examined by inspectors.
Incidents
Staff at the facility perforated a woman’s uterus and failed to report the injury to the Board of Health. They also failed to notify the woman of the complication in writing. The inspection report defined the perforated uterus as a “serious event,” meaning “an event, occurrence or situation involving the clinical care of a client [that] … compromises client safety and results in an unanticipated injury requiring the delivery of additional health services to the client.” The patient suffered “minimal pelvic hemorrhage” and needed further medical care.
Treatment of Patients
The facility had untrained, unlicensed staff monitoring women in the recovery room after their surgery. They were monitoring patients’ blood pressure but weren’t qualified or trained to do so.
In all cases, the staff failed to inform women that they might need to visit a hospital in the event of an emergency.
The only guidance on dosages of drugs to give in an emergency was for adult patients. This meant that a minor having a medical emergency might not receive the right dose of emergency medications.
The facility failed to do a proper physical evaluation on any of its patients before doing surgery and/or administering anesthesia on them.
The facility was using expired medications and had no policy to dispose of them.
The facility failed to ensure the maximum recommended dose of Lidocaine (an anesthetic) was not exceeded when administered as a paracervical block in 8 out of 10 cases. The facility always gave the same dose of lidocaine, despite the patient’s weight and/or medical condition.
Other
The clinic’s policy concerning minors “did not meet the criteria of the Child Protective Services Law.”
The facility had no policies in place for the evacuation of patients or patient records in case of a fire or other emergency.