PA Abortion Clinics Inspection Reports Online

When Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia “House of Horrors” abortion facility was closed in 2010 it was not because of vigilant oversight by the Pennsylvania Department of Health -- it was the indirect result of an investigation into illegal prescription drug activity at the clinic.  Up to that point, inspections at the Gosnell clinic were irregular in the early years of his practice which opened in 1979 and then non-existent for the last 17 years.  In response to the horrific conditions found at the clinic during an FBI raid, Pennsylvania lawmakers in 2011 passed regulations that abortion centers must be licensed as outpatient surgical centers with routine inspections. These inspection surveys (for all healthcare facilities) are posted online on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website. 

The website states:
“The information posted on the Department of Health's website is posted in accordance with requirements imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). These healthcare facility search pages contain information regarding healthcare facility compliance with regulatory requirements for licensure and for certification. Licensure permits the facility to operate in Pennsylvania. Certification permits the facility to claim and receive payment for services rendered from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The Department of Health, as state licensing agency and State Survey Agency for CMS, conducts both routine and special inspections of health care facilities to determine ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements which is a condition of licensure and certification. If, during an inspection, the Department determines a facility does not meet regulatory requirements for licensure and certification, the Department notifies the facility in a Statement of Deficiencies. Health care facilities are required to submit a Plan of Correction in response to the Statement of Deficiencies. The Plan of Correction is mandatory, regardless whether the facility agrees with Department findings or not, and is the means by which the Department monitors and ensures correction of deficiencies. As long as the facility submits a Plan of Correction, the facility may continue to operate and receive Medicare and Medicaid payment, while deficiencies are being corrected. A Plan of Correction, for purposes of licensure and certification, is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the facility.”

As an example, during its most recent inspection in August 2016, The Planned Parenthood of Northeast Philadelphia was recorded with approximately seven non-compliance issues involving medication storage, medical records, fire safety and procedural issues. Plans of correction were completed by October 2016.

Below are links for a few Pennsylvania abortion center inspection surveys.  If you are interested in locating the same type of data for abortion centers in other states, you can start with the Department of Health in your state but it may take some digging to locate the information and is dependent upon your state’s registration and licensing requirements for abortion clinics.

PPSP – Far Northeast Health Center
Philadelphia Women’s Center
Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center-Harrisburg