Family+Hospital

Run by Raymond Showery. Currently just my notes. Will tweak later.

= T he head in the milk carton = toc News special reports allegations of current and former employees: owner Raymond Showery struggled two hours with difficult abortion, "came out in a sweat and just exhausted." "Several days later, a woman, who employees said was the patient's mother, came to Family Hospital upset and angry." She brought a milk carton containing a 3-inch fetal head which she said her daughter had passed after she had massaged the girl's abdomen to alleviate pain; staffer Olga said, "I remember the eyes were bugging. That's when I decided to quit;" Anita, another employee, opened the lab refrigerator one or two weeks later and found the milk carton with a sign taped to it saying, "Hi, do you remember me?" The carton still contained the head; it had been left "as a homecoming surprise" for an X-ray technician who was away. "Employees said they did not know what became of the head, which disappeared from the freezer several days after the X-ray technician returned to work." An OB/GYN estimated the age of the fetus as 29 weeks, or 6 1/2 months. (El Paso Times 4-5-81)

= Non-p hysician performing abortions = News report says Sylvia Sanchez, an employee until 1981, assisted in four or five abortions performed by non-physicians, and performed one herself, at Family Hospital at the request of patients who were afraid to let Showery operate on them. Former nurse's aide Helen Aguilar testified that she had several fellow employees perform an abortion on her, and that she assisted in abortions they did on others. Sanchez reportedly said "Showery was having a lot of problems -- mentally. He always was taking Percodans and making sexual advances on the patients." (El Paso Times 9-24-83)

= Illegal late abortions, etc. = News special reports allegations of former employees: unqualified staff, often illegal aliens who spoke no English; falsifying gestational ages, both to charge more for early abortions (unnecessarily subjecting first-trimester patients to hysterotomy abortion and attendant risks) and to avoid filing death certificates for fetuses over 20 weeks ("A girl comes in and tells you when her last period was, five to six months ago. Gosh, she's too far along to be done, but you still have to pass her into the doctor. So you pass her in and she comes back with 20 weeks [written on her chart]. Now you know that's not right."); violations of labor laws, including refusing to pay overtime, not paying promised salary or wages, requiring employees to work free during training; Showery often left instructions not to be contacted after hours or on weekends, leaving cleaning woman to deliver babies; nursing student hired as receptionist given nurse aid position; former administrative assistant said she "played nurse;" facility had no licensed nurses; no staff dietitian - aide said on weekends when the cook was off "Roger [Showery's son] would leave me ... five dollars, and I would have to ... buy for the weekend a bag of potatoes, a dozen of eggs, tortillas, some kind of fruit for desert," supplemented by TV dinners or meat patties kept in the same freezer with placentas stored to be sold for cosmetics; RN would be hired for a few hours a week, and her name and license used to meet legalities; unqualified staff were given two types of birth control pills, and were to dispense them based on patient's weight; unqualified staff did Pap tests and pelvic exams when Showery was late; staff instructed to lie to bill collectors, telling them Showery was out when he was present; Showery had them falsify insurance forms at his direction, then sign their own names. (El Paso Times, April 5-8, 1981)

= Investigation = News report described allegations by referral counselors who investigated Family Hospital in 1977 "in response to Showery's repeated requests for second-trimester abortion referrals:" "inadequate counseling, unlicensed nurses, fee discrepancies and disrespectful treatment of patients;" saw Showery refuse to talk to patient's distressed mother, said that he charged a $50 "nuisance fee" to patients who bring a companion or who he otherwise considered a problem. Alleged Showery told them "If they are good girls, I'll give it [the $50] back." Showery countered that the "nuisance fee" comment was only a joke, and that his nurses were licensed, although they were discovered to not be licensed in Texas. (El Paso Times 4-5-81)

News report says Showery's son Roger went from part-time maintenance man to president of the facility in two years. (El Paso Times 4-8-81)