Pregnancy Aid Centers, Inc.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and my issue, my whole reason for complaining was it snowed on February 21,it took the business more than two days to clear the snow,ice etcand the fact that if the facility knew that they had ran out of salt they should have looked for another way around clearing the facility or closed it down until they had got the problem resolvedWhen I came to the facility I was not aware that the parking lot would look like that, if I would have known I would have rescheduled my appointmentThis facility needs to be Extra careful with how they handle situation like these because the whole reason women come there is for their health and safety of their childrenIf I would have fell (which I almost did if someone was not there to catch me) and injured me or my child I would definitely take the necessary steps to deal with the person in charge
Regards,
*** ***

I received your letter dated February 25th and the attached complaint regarding the condition of the parking lot at the Weinberg Women’s Center at 8:30 a.m. on February 23, 2015, following a snowstorm the day before. The Weinberg Women's Center is a non-profit clinic operated by Pregnancy Aid...

Centers, Inc. (“PAC”), that serves the needs of women and families in Prince George’s County. I am the Executive Director of PAC.Our patient had an appointment that morning, but when she arrived, she says, she was concerned for her safety due to the icy condition of the parking lot. Unfortunately, like everywhere else in the county, the conditions were difficult following the storm. On balance, we decide to open the clinic rather than cancel all of the appointments for the day, which would have been very disruptive for our patients. Of course, the patient who lodged the complaint could have rescheduled her appointment due to the weather, but instead she decided to proceed to the clinic and, fortunately, made it safely across the parking lot. She says that a staff member assisted her into the building, and that the staff person apologized for the state of the parking lot. After her appointment a staff person made sure she got safely to her car.
On the morning of February 23rd there were patches of snow and ice in the clinic parking lot. Before opening for the day, a staff member had shoveled the walk and spread the last of our salt supply on the lot. Another staff member was out in the community trying to buy more salt, but none of the stores had salt. At the same time, I called the City of College Park Department of Public Works to get some assistance, but, like us, the City had also run out of salt. After several calls to various vendors, I was finally able find someone who would sell us some salt. The salt was purchased from Trippe Supply Company and delivered by 10:00am. (See attached invoice). The salt was then quickly spread on the lot by our contractor, Mr. Vasquez, with whom PAC has a contract to plow and salt our parking lots following storms. As you can see from the attached invoice from Mr. Vasquez, he plowed and salted all of our lots on January 23rd.
I am truly sorry that the customer felt she was not safe walking through the parking lot. However, we did everything possible to get the parking lots maintained as soon as possible. We prefer to keep the clinic open, if at all possible. Our patients often have to arrange to take time off work or to get childcare in order to keep appointments, and it can be very disruptive to them when we are unable to open the clinic.
The patient who complained also says that she tried to call me three times and got no response. Unfortunately, I never received any message from her. PAC and the Weinberg Women's Center each have a 24-hour answering service. The offices receive messages from the answering service every morning. In addition, every telephone in our offices is equipped with an answering machine. I did not receive a message from the customer nor did the receptionists. Had I received a message I would certainly have returned her call.
We take the safely of our patients very seriously and do our best to maintain our parking lots. Following a major storm, however, there are often conditions that are less than ideal. If a patient ever feels that conditions are such that it is unsafe to venture out, I would urge her to reschedule her appointment for another time.
Sincerely,Mary M[redacted], LCSW-C
Executive Director