THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020315
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A North Carolina-based abortion clinic that has often come under fire for its medical and financial practices will open a Virginia Beach facility by the end of the year, making it the second abortion clinic operating in South Hampton Roads.
William Brenner Jr., owner of Tidewater Women's Health Center Inc., would not disclose the location of the building being renovated for the clinic, citing recent violence and vandalism against abortion facilities.
``We try to keep things as private as possible. But it will be beautiful, a state-of-the-art facility,'' he said.
Brenner owns and operates two facilities in North Carolina - Triangle Women's Health Center in Chapel Hill and A Woman's Choice in Raleigh, which opened in May. His father, William Brenner Sr., owned the Chapel Hill clinic until he surrendered his medical license in 1993.
The 12-year-old Chapel Hill facility's practices have been repeatedly challenged by the state medical board, employees and the IRS:
In 1990, state regulators suspended the license of the Chapel Hill clinic for a month, citing staffing problems, improper disposal of aborted material and overbilling of insurance companies.
A 1990 state inspection report said: ``If the doctor determined the patients to be further along upon exam in the operating room, patients arethen asked to get up from the table and go to the front office to pay more money.''
In July 1991, William Brenner Jr. pleaded guilty to trying to hide $136,700 from the IRS. He received three years of probation - including two months in a halfway house, followed by two months of house arrest.
In 1992, William Brenner Sr. spent four months in jail for tax evasion on charges that he owed the government $1.3 million in taxes and penalties.
In 1993, William Brenner Sr., surrendered his North Carolina medical license in the face of an investigation by the state Board of Medical Examiners. Board members said he overstated the age of fetuses so he could ``improperly and fraudulently'' overcharge women for abortions.
Brenner, who talked about the clinic's opening last week, was unavailable Monday to comment on the clinic's history of problems.
The Planned Parenthood office in Raleigh says it does not refer patients to Brenner's clinics.
``We used to get satisfaction surveys back, and we got negative feedback about the Chapel Hill clinic,'' said Pam Cole, president and chief executive officer.
``The Raleigh clinic has only been opened for a short while, but we won't refer anyone there.''
An advertisement in the new South Hampton Roads Yellow Pages says the clinic offers abortions up to 20 weeks, which are legal in North Carolina. In Virginia, abortions up to 12 weeks are allowed. Brenner said Hampton Roads clients needing abortions beyond 12 weeks will be directed to North Carolina.
In 1992, about 29,000 abortions were performed in Virginia, down from about 33,600 in 1988. South Hampton Roads, with 7,991, was the second-busiest area in the state behind Northern Virginia, according to Health Department statistics. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
A Yellow Pages ad mentions that the Raleigh, N.C., clinic offers
abortions up to 20 weeks.
by CNB