HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, June 5, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – The Pennsylvania Department of Health's March 2017 deficiency report on a Harrisburg abortion center shows it used expired medical supplies, had no record of patients receiving anesthesia, and didn't run the legally required background checks on employees who work with minor patients.
The 44-page report on Hillcrest Women's Medical Center indicated the facility didn't have a registered nurse or doctor supervise patients “constantly while recovering from surgery or anesthesia.”
“Interview with EMP1 on February 21, 2017, confirmed that the facility did not employ or otherwise utilize the services of a Registered Nurse,” the report says, despite being legally bound to do so. “None of the personnel, who assisted the doctor with procedures, were licensed as a Registered Nurse.”
There weren't the proper amount of required patient safety meetings. Hillcrest didn't have any policy for addressing “suspected abuse reporting requirements for dependent adults 18 years old to 59 years old.” It didn't document whether seven abortion patients received anesthesia and it lacked policies dealing with the use of local anesthesia in the abortion room.
“The facility failed to ensure that a full-time person was appointed who had authority and responsibility for the operation of the Ambulatory Surgical Facility,” the report continues.
Hillcrest didn't properly store prescription drugs, nor did it keep a log or inventory of its drugs. They were “stored in a manner that was accessible by unauthorized staff and the patients.” It also kept old syringes in “paper wraps that were physically deteriorated and yellow with age.” Some of its medical supplies had been expired since 2004; some of the medicines it kept on hand had been expired since 2016.
Penn Live noted that this is the “fourth time in six years” that Hillcrest has broken health laws. Operation Resuce, a watchdog group that tracks the abortion industry, has been documenting Hillcrest's unsanitary history.
“The abortion cartel will always insist that filthy lawbreaking abortion clinics are an anomaly,” Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, told LifeSiteNews via email. “But the fact remains, every single abortion mill in the country is breaking the law and violating the standard of care.”
In 2011, a health department deficiency report found that Hillcrest had no emergency patient resuscitation equipment and had failed to check that they removed all of a baby's parts during an abortion, or for ectopic pregnancy. They found uncovered biohazard waste bags and expired, rusty “sterilized” equipment.
In 2016, one of Hillcrest's patients needed emergency transport to a hospital for serious bleeding and vaginal hemorrhaging/lacerations.
Pro-life advocates say Pennsylvania's lack of abortion regulations were what allowed abortionist Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist, to literally “snip” the spines of babies born alive during failed abortions, kill a woman via a botched abortion, and allow staff with no medical licensing to administer medication. Gosnell was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder for the “snipping” of three babies' spines and the involuntary manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar. He is serving three consecutive life sentences in state prison.
“You would think that Pennsylvania would have learned its lesson from Kermit Gosnell, but the authorities would rather have bad abortions than no abortion at all,” said Newman.