[Jul 26, 2007]

      The Atlantic City, N.J.-based abortion provider Alternatives will remain closed until health violations discovered last month are corrected, Tom Slater, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, said Tuesday, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

According a health department report released Tuesday, state health officials found numerous violations at the clinic, including:

• Blood under operating tables;
  
  
• Rusty IV poles;
  
  
• Expired drugs;
  
  
• Incomplete patient records;
  
  
• A scrub area that was used for storage;
  
  
• Unlabeled drug-filled syringes;
  
  
• Sterile tubes in open packages;
  
  
• Nurses with expired licenses;
  
  
• Soiled table pads; and
  
  
• Overcrowded, nonprivate recovery rooms.

The violations were uncovered after an anonymous complaint prompted the inspection in June, Slater said. He added that the clinic's is about a week late in submitting a corrective plan but appears to be working on one.

Reaction
"This seems to be a pattern with clinics in the state of New Jersey," Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, said. She added that the violations at Alternatives and another New Jersey abortion clinic, Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood -- which recently re-opened after being forced to close -- "shows a total disregard for women's health and women's lives. I think it's unconscionable that more isn't being done to correct these issues."

Tasy has asked state Public Advocate Ronald Chen to use the power of the Department of the Public Advocate to ensure that abortion clinics in the state are inspected regularly and that the women who received abortions get follow-up care.

Slater said the department is behind on inspections because of a lack of manpower and an increase in the number of ambulatory care clinics in the state. He added that the health department responds to every compliant (Delli Santi, AP/Long Island Newsday, 7/24).