NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
A doctor and nurse at an Indiana hospital who allegedly turned a woman away while she was actively in labor are no longer employed with the facility, hospital officials announced.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe physician and the nurse directly involved with Mrs. Wells\u2019 care are no longer employed by Franciscan,\u201d Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady told PEOPLE in a statement on Friday, Nov. 21.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
On Nov. 16, Mercedes Wells and her husband, Leon, arrived at the Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital after calling to give a heads up the day prior. However, when they arrived, Wells said hospital staff told them to go home and wait for her labor to progress, ABC affiliate WLS<\/a> previously reported.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cell phone video footage showed Wells, now a mother of four, breathing heavily in a wheelchair inside of the hospital before she was escorted out by security.\n<\/p>\n In an on-camera interview with CBS News Chicago<\/a>, she said when she first arrived, she \u201cwas met with really stern faces. No welcoming faces as I usually would get when I go to a hospital, or a place of care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n She added that despite being in “excruciating pain\u201d and \u201cagony,\u201d the nurse who checked on her said she was not far enough along to be admitted.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Wells gave birth to her daughter, Alena, just eight minutes later in her husband\u2019s car on the side of the road.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe video was difficult to watch,\u201d Grady says in his statement, adding that it \u201cdoes not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point, which include respect for life and compassionate concern.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cCompassionate concern is absent when a caregiver fails to listen to a patient who is clearly in pain and vulnerable,\u201d he says. \u201cWe failed to listen to Mrs. Wells\u2019 concerns. As an experienced mother who publicly acknowledged having previously given birth at our hospital with a positive experience, she knew something was not right.\u201d\n<\/p>\n After being turned away, the Wells family retained a lawyer, alleging that they were treated unfairly because they are Black, Fox affiliate WFLD<\/a> reported.\n<\/p>\n Grady adds, \u201cWe must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Franciscan Health Crown Point.<\/p>\n google maps<\/p>\n In addition to the doctor and nurse involved being terminated, Grady has \u201cmandated cultural competency training for all labor and delivery staff,\u201d and mandated that \u201call pregnant patients leaving the Labor and Delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cOn behalf of Franciscan Alliance and Franciscan Health Crown Point, I apologize to Mrs. Wells and her family for failing to live up to our Franciscan values,” Grady said. “We are committed to holding ourselves accountable through our actions so that every patient is heard and receives compassionate, equitable care. Any evidence of actions to the contrary will not be tolerated.”\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Grady shared he has reached out to Wells, and hopes to meet with her and her husband soon.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n