CHICAGO (WGN) — Mercedes Wells and her husband Leon sat inside a Chicago law firm on Tuesday, contemplating action against a local hospital just days after giving birth.
It was around midnight Saturday into Sunday, Nov. 15 into Nov. 16, that the Wells were traveling home when Mercedes said she went into labor two weeks early with the couple’s fourth child.
“I already had the feeling that something wasn’t quite right,” Wells told WGN-TV.
The couple traveled to the nearest hospital, which was Franciscan Health Crown Point.
“I was admitted with really stern faces. Like no welcoming faces as I usually would get when I go to a hospital or a place of care,” Wells said. “I was 10 minutes apart with contractions. By the time I got upstairs, it was about eight minutes apart.”
Video captured by Wells’ mother six hours after the family arrived shows a nurse informing the visibly in pain Wells that she was being discharged as a result of the doctor’s orders. Wells said she never saw a doctor, however. The contractions, at this point, were one minute apart, Wells added.
“I was in excruciating pain. She saw me in pain and agony. No empathy. She didn’t show any care as a usual nurse would,” Wells said.
About 8 minutes later, as the Wells traveled towards another hospital, healthy baby Alena was born along the roadway.
“It was God’s grace,” said Leon Wells. “It was totally God’s grace. I was scared, I didn’t know what to do.”
Cannon Lambert Sr., an attorney with the law offices of Karchmar and Lambert, said the hospital should never have put them in such a situation.
Franciscan Health sent a statement from its CEO, Raymond Grady, which read, in part:
“… We understand the concern this has raised. The video is just one part of the information we are reviewing as part of a thorough investigation into this alleged incident.”
Mercedes Wells said that the suffering she experienced as a result of what she alleges to be hospital negligence is something she never wants to see another person endure.
“I was stripped of my dignity as a person because I was treated less than an animal,” Wells said.
For now, the Wells and their attorney say they want to meet with hospital administrators to discuss policy changes they say could’ve prevented her situation.