Camelback Family Planning

Health Violations

• No follow up physical examination performed on patients after their surgical abortions. It is a requirement of the state that a patient have a physical examination no more than  21 days after the abortion procedure. The inspectors reviewed 5 charts and none of those patients had a physical examination.
• The medical director (physician) did not follow the clinic’s abortion procedure policy. Laminaria is used to dilate (open) the cervix (connects the vagina to the uterus or womb). The doctor started the procedures too soon after laminaria insertion (30 minutes early). This allowed the physician to perform more abortions by rushing through the procedures and not following procedure.
• Nurses administering sedation medications were not competent and did not meet state requirements for competency in the administration of conscious sedation
• The physician performing abortions did not meet competency requirements and had never performed abortions before working at this facility. He never completed the requirements for competency in the facility’s own policy
• The physician has not performed a bi-manual exam and palpation of the adnexa (a physical examination) on any of the medical abortion procedures he has performed since mid-July, 2015. The nurse verified this on interview.
• Staff failed to maintain clean equipment putting the health and welfare of the patients at risk.
• The physician performing abortions did not demonstrate competency. The medical director failed to verify whether or not this physician was qualified to perform a medical abortion. Upon interview by the inspector, it was discovered that this physician had no prior experience performing abortions.
• Staff failed to properly sterilize and sanitize equipment that is used from woman to woman.