Houston Women’s Clinic, Dr. Bernard Rosenfeld -INACTIVE

On Tuesday afternoon, a divided three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked Yeakel’s ruling and gave both sides until 5 p.m. Friday to submit their legal briefs on the matter.

"Patients will suffer serious and irreparable harm in the absence of a temporary restraining order," wrote Judge Lee Yeakel, a George W. Bush-appointee, in his nine-page opinion. "The attorney general's interpretation of the Executive Order prevents Texas women from exercising what the Supreme Court has declared is their fundamental constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is viable."

"Health Care professionals and facilities, including abortion providers, must immediately stop all medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures to preserve resources to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. […] Failure to comply with an executive order issued by the governor related to the COVID-19 disaster can result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time."

Inspection report and complaint investigation reveals numerous violations and deficiencies, including: failure to ensure current documented competency and training for 2 of 2 staff responsible for sterilization of surgical instruments, improper disinfection and sterilization techniques, failure to ensure a safe and sanitary environment to protect the health of the patient, failure to store and administer medication in a safe manner, rips and tears in upholstery on all 3 of 3 exam tables in 3 of 3 procedure rooms, infection control problems with sticky tape on 3 of 3 exam tables, patient supplies stored in boxes on the floor with contamination risk, large amount of dirt and dust on bottom and top of ultrasound machine, cabinet shelf with rings of dirt and large amount of gray/black dirt and grime, patient's medications stored in staff breakroom unlocked and accessible, pre-poured and unlabeled medications, failure to enforce infection control policies to minimize risk of infection transmission for HIV, HepB, HepC, TB, and Strep, multi-dose medication vials not dated when opened, staff failed to wash/sanitize hands after removing contaminated gloves, handling products of conception without one hand of her gloves, exiting dirty room without washing or sanitizing contaminated hands, using contaminated cart in the clean supply room without sanitizing it first, clean supplies of syringes and sanitary pads etc being stored on open shelves above dirty sink where blood and blood products are discarded, failure to log biological indicator tests required to verify whether autoclave is properly functioning or sterilizing instruments, failure to log sterilization results for 8 months, failure to change disinfectant every 14 days (last documented change was 7.5 months prior), failure to maintain autoclaves, 2 of 2 RNs administering sedation without documentation of demonstrated competency/training, and more.

Statement of deficiencies & plan of correction.

Failure to enforce policies to minimize the transmission of infections. Failure to ensure staff wore protective gowns when being exposed to infectious body fluids

$3900 Penalty.

Fine for Houston Women's Clinic: $20,300 on 03-30-2017; Fine for Reproductive Services (El Paso): $1,165 on 08-24-2017.

Houston Women's Clinic (Houston, TX) - $20,300 fine on 03-30-2017 -- Reproductive Services (El Paso, TX) - $1,165 fine on 08-24-2017