Patients of Colorado Springs fertility clinic share experiences about alleged unqualified nurse
UPDATE, 11/20/2024: In August of 2024, the state repealed the cease and desist letter sent to Brandis Montez, allowing her to return to work as a licensed nurse practitioner. You can see our reporting on this update by clicking here.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - After a Colorado Springs fertility clinic has been accused of employing a nurse who is performing procedures without the proper certifications, patients of that facility are sharing their experiences with KRDO13 Investigates.
On July 9, 2024, the Colorado State Nursing Board issued a cease and desist letter to nurse practitioner, Brandis Montez, who has worked at the CNY Fertility clinic in Colorado Springs for the last few years, and allegedly had a hand in over 750 fertility procedures, with 600 or more of those being unsupervised by a doctor.
Since KRDO13 Investigates broke the story on July 17, upwards of 30 former and current patients have sent emails sharing their experiences about their time with CNY, and working with nurse Montez. Doug and Heather Tice are just one of those couples.
The Tices tell KRDO13 Investigates that they have spent upwards of $50,000 as patients over the course of 12 procedures in just over a years time with CNY Fertility. They said they had a "hysteroscopy", which is a very invasive procedure involving anesthesia, scheduled on Memorial Day weekend this year, with the clinic's head Doctor, Dr. Randy Fink.
Instead, they say they arrived and were assigned "Doctor" Brandis Montez.
"They said Dr. Brandis, and they put it on the little whiteboard there and I was so mad because I'm like you know, I can't believe they did this to me," said Heather Tice, adding that the procedure was rocky, at best. "I was in tears because I was so upset. I was in a lot of pain and she didn't even come and talk to me after the procedure," Tice added.
The Tice's story is not unique. Many of the families who KRDO13 Investigates spoke with on Monday, shared similar stories of having Dr. Fink penciled in for their procedure, only to have nurse Montez substituted in his place upon their arrival to the clinic.
"I really wanted him for the transfer, and so I was a little disappointed that it was her, because I had never talked with her before." explained Celia Drechsel-Luck, who traveled to CNY in Colorado Springs all the way from Idaho. "I don't blame her for the actual fail of the [embryo] transfer, [but] I do think there needs to be accountability, for the accusation that's being put forth." she added about Montez.
Heather Tice's husband, Douglas, who is an orthopedic surgeon in Denver, shared his thoughts on the Memorial Day weekend hysterectomy, through the lens of his decades of experience while working at a hospital, with many colleagues in OBGYN units.
"It was the most unprofessional display by someone, who is [also] unqualified to do that. If any of my trainees, you know, my orthopedic residents, acted in any of this capacity, we would fire them." exclaimed Tice, while thinking about how Montez carried herself, before and after the procedure.
The Tices say after that, they never returned to CNY Fertility, but still owe them thousands of dollars. The couple says they instead went for consultations at two other fertility clinics closer to home, where they were told that those companies do not accept eggs or embryos from any CNY facilities in the country, due to what is described as "bad lab practices."
Those like Dreschel-Luck who traveled from out of state, says that she is fortunate to have only spent money on a basic plan of three cycle's, which was affordable for her, but did ultimately failed in delivering her a pregnancy.
While she wasn't outraged by the news, she says she recognizes the situation at hand, and that there are many other women like her that are clamoring for answers.
"It's a distasteful move to do to even do one procedure, but to continue going month after month after month, you know, woman after woman after woman." said Dreschel-Luck about the allegations.
The clinic said in a statement in July 17, that Montez holds a registered family nursing license and a practitioner license for adult gerontology acute care, which make her qualified to carry out her duties at the clinic. The state, however, claims in their cease and desist letter, that Montez is practicing outside the scope of those very same licenses, when she executed 750-plus procedures.
KRDO13 Investigates inquired about several claims made by the families who have reached out since the July 17 airing of the report, including those made by the Tices and many others over the phone on Monday, July 22, but they had not responded by the writing of this article.
