 |
| patient being wheeled into an ambulance outside Hope Clinic for Women on March 16, 2023 |
Sidewalk advocates outside the clinic reported these emergencies to Operation
Rescue, a pro-life organization that documents hospitalizations caused by
abortion businesses. Operation Rescue was able to retrieve 911 recordings
through information requests in three of these cases.
On March 10 at about 10am, an HCW employee called 911 to request an ambulance for a patient that was "having some bleeding" and was "currently stable." Except to confirm that the patient had "a procedure," the 911 operator did not ask any other questions about the patient's condition. This is out of character for calls of this nature. In other calls obtained by Operation Rescue, dispatchers often ask whether the patient is conscious, whether she is on blood thinners, or how long she has been bleeding.
On March 16, an employee called 911 shortly after noon to request an ambulance for a 22-year-old patient. Again, the dispatcher asked very few questions. The HCW employee requested that the patient be transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. HCW is located directly across the street from a hospital, so requesting transport to St. Louis would cause a significant delay in care.
This is not the first time HCW has requested that patients facing medical emergencies be transported to Barnes. Operation Rescue suggested that Barnes's status as a level 1 trauma care center with a surgeon on duty 24/7 may have something to do with the request.
On March 29, an employee from HCW called 911 just before 4pm to request an ambulance for a 26-year-old woman with "more bleeding than we would like her to." HCW again requested that the patient be transported to Barnes. The 911 dispatcher followed up with several questions, but she complained and apologized to the HCW employee several times. The dispatcher described the "new system" as "a pain." The dispatcher asked whether the patient was conscious or on blood thinners before the recording ends.
Operation Rescue asked for the full recording of each call, but Granite City cut this particular recording short. Additionally, the city refused to provide dispatch reports for any of these emergencies. Operation Rescue is usually able to retrieve these reports from other cities.
On April 28, pro-life onlookers witnessed a patient on a gurney being wheeled into a private ambulance with RuralMed EMS. Operation Rescue pointed out that RuralMed is based in Farina, Illinois, a 1.5-hour drive from HCW. The clinic would have called the private ambulance company directly, so Operation Rescue is unlikely to find any 911 records related to this emergency.
“Of all the abortion clinics currently operating, this is certainly one of the most deplorable,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “We are working hard, doing all that is within our power, to close the doors of this death trap once and for all.”
