Planned Parenthood Keystone had a novel excuse for failing to report the ambulance transfer of a patient to the Pennsylvania  Department of Health, as required by law.

When DOH inspected Planned Parenthood Keystone’s Allentown abortion clinic on February 27, 2014, it was surprised to learn a patient had begun hemorrhaging after her abortion on March 15, 2013, and taken to the hospital by ambulance.

This was a surprising because DOH is supposed to get a report from any medical facility within 24 hours after such an occurrence, and it didn’t in this case.

Planned Parenthood’s excuse?

Its Patient Safety Officer and Associate Medical Director “determined that this event did not constitute a serious event or incident…. Abnormal bleeding after a surgical abortion is not unusual nor is it unanticipated,” quoting from the report.

The chart stated “the patient began with excessive bleeding with noticeable large clots” after not one but two suction abortions, because ”no products of conception were found” either time.

The bleeding continued even after the injection of a clotting medication (Methergine), which is when Planned Parenthood called 911.

If DOH didn’t realize Planned Parenthood’s misinterpretation of the law until this year, how many other botched abortions has Planned Parenthood Keystone covered up, not just in Allentown but others?

So Planned Parenthood’s standard of care is such that large clots and hemorrhaging are expected normal outcomes of a first trimester abortion?

Oh, and DOH’s deficiency report also found that Planned Parenthood violated HIPAA privacy laws by leaving patient files with names on them out in the open.

[Top photo, via Saynsumthn, was taken at the Aurora, Illinois, Planned Parenthood in 2009]

This is exciting news… and so fast!

Excerpt from a LifeNews.com story today by Micaiah Bilger:

Documents from an abortion center in Allentown have prompted state officials to investigate whether the center may be dodging unannounced state inspections.

A Planned Parenthood in Allentown allegedly rescheduled abortion procedures after finding out when the Pennsylvania Department of Health planned to inspect the facility, according to documents released to blogger Jill Stanek. The allegations that Planned Parenthood has inside information about inspections prompted speedy action by the Governor.

“Pro-life Governor Tom Corbett’s office is now looking into allegations that abortion giant Planned Parenthood may be getting preferential treatment when it comes to abortion center inspections,” said Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life. “We commend the Governor for taking swift action to ensure the integrity of the inspection process.  The health and safety of women across the Commonwealth are at stake.”

Continuing reading about this awesome development at LifeNews.com.

Even if the DOH inspection was pre-announced, Planned Parenthood still compromised it by changing its schedule and adding staff.

An informant from the Planned Parenthood Keystone affiliate in Pennsylvania has slipped me some fascinating new documents.

Recall Pennsylvania is the home of infanticide abortionist Kermit Gosnell, convicted  in May 2013 of first degree murder in the deaths of three babies and involuntary manslaughter of a patient.

In reality, Gosnell likely “snipped” the spinal cords of hundreds if not thousands of babies he aborted alive over three decades but was never caught. The state simply stopped inspecting abortion clinics “for political reasons,” according to the Gosnell Grand Jury Report. Gosnell’s heinous crimes were only discovered by accident when the FBI raided his clinic for writing illegal drug prescriptions.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett began righting the wrongs by firing negligent state workers and enacting annual state inspections and surprise random inspections.

So, either an annual state inspection was scheduled at the Planned Parenthood Allentown abortion clinic for Friday, March 21, or someone on the inside gave PP a heads up about an unannounced inspection, but here’s the memo PP distributed to staff:

Allentown seemed to clearly reschedule abortion appointments to avoid the scrutiny of Department of Health inspectors. As my informant noted, “If the DOH gave a heads up about inspections to restaurants like it does to abortion clinics, wouldn’t they all pass?”

Indeed, another document provided by my informant showed that the day before the March 21 DOH inspection the Allentown PP was coincidentally crawling with additional staff. Click to enlarge:

Interestingly, it appears the Allentown PP is closed on Fridays, so why had abortions been scheduled that day to begin with?

My informant responded with another bit of interesting news: “The abortion centers always show as closed on abortion days. They never list themselves as open so that pro-lifers won’t show up.”

I checked, and this is true, at least among all the PP Keystone abortion clinics. The closed day for each one (Allentown, Harrisburg, Reading, Warminster, York)  is a day elsewhere listed as “by appointment only.”

Pennsylvania pro-lifers take note. These supposed closed days are actually busy baby killing days. From the second document (click to enlarge):

Abortionist Jennifer Coles normally commits abortions for PP in Maryland. Wasn’t she wonderful to sacrifice herself? She turned around and sacrificed 24 children in one day for a minimum charge by PP of $450 each, giving PP a $10,800+ day.

I also note that while Planned Parenthood screams at the suggestion of even a 24-hour delay by laws requiring waiting periods before abortions, it was a-ok offering aborting mothers the option of waiting a week.

Gov. Corbett, there are obviously still gaping holes in Pennsylvania’s post-Gosnell inspection system.

Next week, a number of celebrities will join in an effort organized by an independent group to boost enrollment on the online exchanges, said a person familiar with the plan, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it. An advertising blitz will begin in January after the holiday season has ended, said the person.

Scarlett Johansson, Aisha Tyler, and Gabrielle Union have recorded phone messages that Planned Parenthood is using to promote enrollment. Actresses Lena Dunham of “Girls” and Elizabeth Banks of “Hunger Games” posted Twitter messages to promote a Planned Parenthood Internet town hall this week on Obamacare.

In addition, Planned Parenthood, which provides health services to women, will “ramp up significantly” its efforts to promote enrollment in January, deploying hundreds of staff members with a goal of contacting a half-million people in Texas, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, said Rachel Fleischer, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

~ Bloomberg, December 6

For several days I’ve been relaying nefarious inside information from current and former employees about the Planned Parenthood Keystone affiliate in Pennsylvania  (i.e., unsanitary conditions, slave wages and exorbitant healthcare premiums, and ridiculous patient charges).

On November 12, a worker at Planned Parenthood Allentown wrote this comment about yet another apparent wrong being committed by PP Keystone: bait-and-switch abortions.

Here in Allentown when abortion patients show up half of them don’t know we don’t offer general anesthesia. Talk about informed consent. If they knew that they would all go to Allentown Women’s Center a city over.  By the time they realize what’s going on we have already done an ultrasound, tested for STD’s and they have accrued fees. Yes, you heard right. If they change their mind we charge them item for item. 1 fee for Ultrasound. Another for STD testing, another for RH factor, etc. etc. Since most of our patients are poor they stay rather than leave. Who can afford $200 for NOT having an abortion to drop another $500 at another clinic that DOES offer twilight anesthesia.

Another employee had previously told me PP Allentown hopes to soon offer sedation to better compete with Allentown Women’s Center but doesn’t yet.

I called PP Keystone’s abortion hotline this morning and confirmed the Allentown abortion mill indeed does not offer “conscious sedation,” which the operator described as putting one into a deeply relaxed state. Allentown only offers a local anesthesic to numb the cervix.

I spoke with Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Michael Norton about this apparent PP hustle. He said if it is true that PP isn’t providing full disclosure before the onset of one’s abortion in order to pull her in so deep financially she feels she can’t back out, then PP may be violating a state health standard and may also be liable for medical malpractice, which is suable.

“Women who have been tricked and coerced to complete the abortion procedure after being baited to begin the process may have claims of fraud, failure to provide adequate informed consent, reckless endangerment, and pain and suffering,” said Norton. “In addition, Planned Parenthood may be committing both civil and criminal violations.”

Employees who think they have witnessed this bait-and-switch, and patients who have experienced it or who have been harmed at PP, are urged to contact Norton at mjnorton@alliancedefendingfreedom.org.

A message to employees

I want to assure all Planned Parenthood employees (from any affiliate anywhere) they have nothing to fear by anonymously posting on this site, or by contacting me at jill@jillstanek.com. As a citizen journalist, I am protected by the First Amendment from revealing my sources.

Also, some of you have mentioned the idea of unionizing. Go for it! You cannot be fired for attempting to unionize.

On that note, Planned Parenthood Federation of America CEO Cecile Richards is a hypocrite. She is married to Kirk Adams, an executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, for goodness sakes, who is also a hypocrite.

SEIU boasts “the largest healthcare union in North America with more than 1.1 million members.” Were Planned Parenthood not in SEIU’s sights before, there is no excuse for it not to have been once Richards took over the helm seven years ago. Right under Adams’ nose are prime examples why unionizing was conceived. Again, check out PP workers’ pathetic salaries and impossibly high healthcare premiums.

And Richards, who claims concern for underprivileged communities, is helping perpetuate them by vastly underpaying and underinsuring her very own employees.

Both PP workers and the SEIU are getting screwed by this two-faced couple.

Here are SEIU’s guidelines for forming a union.

UPDATE, 3:45p: Commenter Chris made a great point worth adding to this post:

And there are prolifers out there who will gladly help you find different jobs in other enterprises that truly serve customers! We’re happy to help you make a right decision, it’s a win for us, a win for you, and a win for the lives of innocent human beings! www.attwn.org

I would 100% prefer that workers leave PP and take a healthcare jobs that save lives, not destroy them.

To be clear, the only reason I push unionizing PP is to point out the hypocrisy of its leadership as well as imagine how PP would suffer if forced to pay its workers a living wage and provide adequate healthcare. All that money PP currently spends to fight us and promote abortion would be diverted.

Planned Parenthood Keystone is the gift that just keeps giving, although I’m sure any closely scrutinized Planned Parenthood would render equally appalling information.

PP Keystone is an affiliate that covers “37 counties in Pennsylvania, home to over half of Pennsylvania residents,” according to its website. “We operate 17 medical centers that serve over 52,00 patients annually.”

Last week we learned about unsanitary conditions at one of those centers, and yesterday we learned about the slave wages PP Keystone pays, particularly atrocious when compared to the insurance premiums it charges the same workers, nearly equal to the wages.

Today I learned that PP Keystone charges abortion patients $20 to watch a video.

When I spoke by phone to a PP Keystone abortion sales agent, I was told the “information session,” which she explained is watching a video containing what  plannedparenthoodpa.org describes as a ”mandated lecture,” is an add-on fee to the cost of an early abortion, which, she said, ranges from $310-440.

The origin of the video is the 1989 Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act, which includes, per PP:

… A mandated lecture with materials produced by the state. This lecture includes outdated and exaggerated information, and was included in the law as an attempt to convince women not to go forward with the procedure. There is no other medical procedure in existence which includes similar protocol.

For a woman under the age of 18, before the 24-hour waiting period goes into effect, a parent must come in to witness the mandated lecture.

In medical terminology this is called “informed consent,” and I beg to differ with PP that “no other medical procedure in existence includes similar protocol.” The reason the PA legislature had to write the law is because abortion is the only medical procedure in existence where consent is as uninformed as possible.

Abortion is also the only medical procedure in existence where one apparently has to pay extra for informed consent – consent that takes no staff time except to push a button. So the video actually saves clinics money.

The $20 fee is one of those slimy sales gimmicks we are all familiar with where the price of a product or service is jacked up upon delivery for “extras” one should not have to pay extra for.

PP claims to care about poor and disadvantaged but sure seems to find ways to squeeze more out of them.

Red Box charges 20 times less to rent a DVD, and at least you get to keep it overnight.

In this case, PP doesn’t want the video to leave its property, nor is it available on YouTube. Wonder why.

Last week I wrote about unsanitary conditions at a Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood clinic that is part of the Planned Parenthood Keystone affiliate.

Other PP Keystone employees have started adding their comments to that post, and they jibe with Lola’s* assessment of their horrible workplace environment.

But I have learned it doesn’t stop there. Wrote PP Keystone employee “CC” (combining excerpts from two comments):

I think what is really unfortunate is the employees of PPKEY work under paid and not paid market rate for there positions. then on top of it work in the unsanitary conditions, like robots, in humane ways to treat humans. Most of the employees working here are on welfare themselves that’s pretty sad….

We should try to start a union! Admin would crap there pants if we all did that, because than we would have rights!

Employee “SickOfKeystone” wrote:

PPKEY spent thousands for a Employee Appreciation at the Country Club so they could all blow they own horns. How bout instead u get me a gift card for groceries. I would appreciate that. How bout Im full time and get food stamps and cant afford insurance for my husband.

Indeed, since writing that post I have received more intel on wages and insurance premiums for PP Keystone employees.

I’m told that PP Keystone workers other than clinic managers and clinicians make only $10-11/hour and are limited to a 35-hour work week. These people include receptionists, medical assistants and “front end and back end staff,” according to my source.

As CC and SickOfKeystone indicated, this pittance of a salary qualifies PP Keystone employees with families for welfare and food stamps.

But it gets worse. It’s no wonder SickOfKeystone can’t afford insurance for her husband. Take a look at PP Keystone’s employee insurance premiums. Take note these are bi-weekly rates (UPDATE 11/13: and the deductible is $3,000):

I verified that these rates were sent to all staff by PP Keystone Director of HR and Security Erin Vellela (pictured right) in an email dated October 25, to take effect November 1, 2013, through October 31, 2014.

How a PP employee making $11/hour, or $1,540 a month, could afford insurance for his or her family is beyond me. It doesn’t seem possible. It is even less likely that any part-time employee could pull it off without paying PP money.

Meanwhile PP Keystone CEO Kim Custer, pictured right, made $133,165 in salary and compensation in 2012.

So while Planned Parenthood Federation of America CEO Cecile Richards cheerleads for Obamacare, because “every person in this country deserves a basic standard of health care coverage,” her own corporation has been a prime culprit, forcing employees already making slave wages to purchase astronomically high health insurance, or go without.

The Washington Times reported on November 4 that PPFA “employs 25,000 staff and volunteers at its 750 health clinics.”

Hello, where is the Service Employees International Union? I’m sure PP Keystone employee CC is not alone in wanting to unionize.

And shouldn’t feminists support decent wages and health insurance for workers providing healthcare to mostly women?

I’ve seen SEIU in action when it was trying to strong-arm my employer to unionize hospital workers. SEIU is a master at shakedowns. SEIU is always on the lookout for more healthcare workers to bring into its fold.

But could it be that Cecile Richards’ husband Kirk Adams, International Executive Vice President of SEIU, is keeping his friends away from PP? I’d say that’s a safe bet.

But is it good for either SEIU or PP workers? Absolutely not.

Planned Parenthood employees who may be reading this blog for the first time should check out the salaries your affiliate CEOs and PPFA corporate heads are making. You should also know PPFA has topped $1 billion in assets since 2009-2010. There’s money to pay you. Management is just keeping it for themselves.

*Pseudonym

“Why do Planned Parenthood’s abortion centers get all the money while non-abortion centers fall apart?”

Lola* knew the answer to her question but was using it to educate me about the Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood clinic that she, along with several other staff members, recently quit in disgust.

Lola emailed me a couple days ago, having learned about my blog, ironically enough, from bosses who mocked it during meetings. “We read your stuff and thought you were all crazy,” Lola said. “But not any more.”

Lola and I have now spoken a few times by phone. She also sent me some pictures. The Stroudsburg clinic doesn’t commit abortions. Lola concluded this is why it fell to the bottom of the upkeep pile.

For instance: “Every single one of our chairs is stained with blood or vaginal secretions,” Lola said. “The Department of Health mandated that PP abortion sites have waiting room chairs that are nonpermeable, so this wouldn’t be a problem. Is the Department aware PP’s nonabortion centers still have the upholstered chairs? We asked multiple times for nonpermeable chairs but were told it wasn’t in the budget. Patients sometimes sat on the floor rather than on infected chairs.”

(Click all photos to enlarge.)

“It gets worse,” Lola continued. “One of our two exam tables was contaminated with blood, secretions, and infectious waste – for years. Despite cleaning the table after every exam, the foam underneath was soaked due to the tear, a making it a sponge for the spread of infectious diseases, since our facility did STD and HIV testing. Corporate refused to repair or replace the table until our clinician threatened a work stoppage, because this was such a gross health violation. Realizing they were going to lose big money, corporate finally had someone come and reupholster it.”

“When the refrigerator where we kept meds and cold-storage birth control broke, it took corporate a months to get us a new one,” Lola continued. “Even though meds and food can’t mix, we were forced to.”

“Again, they only responded after we threatened,” Lola complained. “Then the refrigerator they brought was DRIPPING in mold and mildew. It had to be cleaned with hospital strength cleaner and disinfectant.

“There was graffiti on the clinic walls, the emergency exit was blocked with boxes, and the waiting room was filthy. Actually, the whole place was filthy – what you would expect at Gosnell’s clinic,” Lola said. “They refused to hire a painter.”

I think I’m thankful Lola had no pictures to go with her final gross story about the Planned Parenthood Stroudsburg clinic.

“On August 28 [2013] the sewer line backed up, causing a waterfall of crap to cascade and fill the basement,” Lola began. “RotoRooter found tampons, used condoms, drug paraphernalia, and other stuff clogging the lines. The center was covered from front to back in fecal footprints as RotoRooter and the manager had to go up and downstairs to test various things.

“An emergency call was made that night to every single regional manager, but no one picked up.” Lola continued. “Finally we called the head of finance, asking for someone to come out and help. We were scared. The place stunk like corpses. We were nauseous and wretching. But the finance manager said the only person who could come out was already ‘in her nightgown, so do the best you can.’

“A biohazardous clean-up crew did not show up for 48 hours, because corporate was price shopping,” Lola said. “Meanwhile, corporate refused to close the place. Patients and their children – and us – were walking and breathing in feces for two days.”

Lola concluded, “After the clean-up, they sprayed a sporicide and industrial strength cleaner. Again, corporate refused to let staff leave. We all began to go into respiratory distress, sharing the same asthma inhaler.

“‘If we die, we die together ,’ we joked.”
_______________

I called the Planned Parenthood Stroudsburg number to request a comment or response and reached a central call service. The operator transferred me directly to the Stroudsburg clinic. The phone rang 20 times with no answer (even though the clinic was open) and then went to a busy signal.

I then tried calling the corporate office at Planned Parenthood Keystone. My call went to voicemail. That was an hour ago. I have not received a return call.

But I have received two hang-ups.

*Pseudonym