What Happened in Nashville

Episode 2: The Stakeout

Host: Melissa Jeltsen
Date: December 3, 2025
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

Overview

In this gripping episode, Melissa Jeltsen investigates the chaotic aftermath of the sudden closure of the Center for Reproductive Health (CRH) in Nashville. Through the eyes of patients Mary, Sydney, and Taylor, among others, Melissa unravels how the abrupt shutdown left dozens devastated—cut off from their treatments, finances, records, and, most vitally, their embryos. The episode exposes the human cost of an unregulated fertility industry, chaos among abandoned patients, and a cascade of bureaucratic and personal failures as people scramble for answers and control.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Morning of the Shutdown (02:12 – 04:31)

• Mary's last normal appointment:
  Mary, a veterinary technician undergoing IVF, attends what seems like a typical early-morning appointment at CRH. Everything appears routine.
• Normalcy masks upheaval:
  "At 8am I show up and reception is acting normal...I left like it was just a normal check in. Like it was just normal." – Mary (03:22)
• Sudden disruption:
  By afternoon, Mary receives a call delaying her transfer indefinitely—no clear explanation beyond “short staffing.” The nurse instructs her to continue expensive, side-effect-laden medication (Lupron).

2. Discovery Through the News (04:55 – 07:00)

• Patients left in the dark:
  Mary only learns the clinic is collapsing after a news report airs, featuring Sydney and her husband, Austin. Both women are blindsided; they had no prior warning from the clinic itself.
• Mary’s husband’s reaction:
  "It felt like another lost chance to start a family." – Mary's Husband (06:46)

3. Clinic Stakeout and Patient Panic (07:00 – 14:09)

• Desperate search for answers:
  Mary's husband visits the clinic: doors are open, no staff present, phones ringing unanswered. "It feels like a ghost town..." – Melissa (07:28)
• Sydney's ad hoc support:
  Sydney creates a Facebook group for affected families:
  "I think I'm gonna make a Facebook page for all the families that are going through this, because that way we can all just kind of have each other." – Sydney (09:36)
• Online chaos:
  Patients trade scraps of info and frantic messages as calls and emails go unanswered.
• Different patients, different stakes:
  Introduction to Taylor Turner, who, after surviving a brain tumor, has only one viable embryo—her only shot at a biological child.
  “We have a highly graded boy embryo that we lovingly call 5aa. So we always refer to him as that.” – Taylor Turner (12:19)

4. Emotional and Financial Toll (14:09 – 23:42)

• No control, only fear:
  Patients feel trapped, powerless, and afraid for their chances to have families.
  "I truly felt like I couldn't even figure out what was going on." – Sydney (14:38)
• Mary's journey through infertility:
  Mary traces her long, expensive ordeal—failed IUIs, miscarriages, expensive IVF not covered by insurance, and finally, donor eggs.
  “I'm just the couple that has unexplained infertility, which is 25% of couples with infertility.” – Mary (16:54)
• Financial strain:
  “We, of course, were just running out of money. I'm pretty sure our credit cards had plenty on them.” – Mary (18:37)
• Hope dwindles:
  Mary suffers a chemical pregnancy after her first embryo transfer, leading to counseling and support groups before attempting again with donor eggs—bought using a Christmas bonus.

5. The Clinic Stakeout—Race for Medical Records (23:42 – 31:54)

• Patients organize and converge:
  Alerted by a Facebook post that Dr. Vasquez is in the office, Mary and others show up in person. Doors are locked, but patients linger, desperate for contact or records.
• Emotional confrontation:
  Another patient arrives, having just handed over $30,000 for treatment, unaware of the closure. “I felt like I had just, like, crushed a woman's soul.” – Mary's Husband (26:27)
• Ovation nurses arrive:
  Nurses from an outside lab try to locate and retrieve medical records, but the clinic is hopelessly disorganized: “Half of it's in a paper form, half of it, it's on digital, half of it's not uploaded.” – Ovation Nurse (28:22)
• Attorney Dixie aids the patients:
  Dr. Vasquez’s attorney, Dixie, is empathetic and helps Mary gain access, eventually producing a massive dump of documents.
  “Do you have everything?” she asks. “Yes, I do. And that was it. I walked out of there.” – Mary's Husband (31:54)
• State officials arrive:
  As Mary leaves, health inspectors from Tennessee arrive for an unannounced inspection.

6. Official Inspection & Revelations (34:15 – 39:57)

• State inspection finds major breaches:
  • Dr. Vasquez claims clinic is "not closed," but there's no staff except himself.
  • Inspectors find records outdated by 20 years, inadequate infection protocols, tanks unlabeled or in questionable condition, and no up-to-date logs.
    "I observed Dr. Vazquez opening embryo and sperm cryogenic storage tanks without using personal protective equipment, which is a violation of infection control protocols." – Inspector Deborah Verna (36:17)
  • Storage tank logs incomplete since April 5; count of embryos understated.
• Embryologist warnings:
  Former embryologist describes Dr. Vasquez as “like a caged animal... dissociated from reality. ...He’s not set up for an emergency. Someone needs to take care of it.” (39:15)

7. Legal Action and Aftermath (40:10 – 43:23)

• Attorney General steps in:
  • Dr. Vasquez and the clinic are sued under Tennessee’s Consumer Protection Act for false advertising and misrepresentation, not criminal or malpractice charges.
  • Assets are frozen; a third-party receiver is appointed to manage the crisis.
  • "The tanks are topped off... they've been kept to an adequate level throughout the transition, but that's only because a lot of people worked very hard to make sure that they were." – Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (41:40)
• Patients still caught in limbo:
  "It feels like I just keep getting older and my embryos keep sitting in a tank." – Mary (43:05)
• Ongoing emotional and practical paralysis:
  Patients await records and access to embryos, but logistics and bureaucracy are painfully slow.

8. Preview of Next Episode (43:23 – 44:13)

• Hints of further revelations:
  The Facebook group uncovers even more disturbing discoveries about someone else working at the clinic, prompting new investigations by law enforcement and health authorities.
  "There's no mention of him with the board. There's no mention of him with a license in the state of Tennessee. There's nothing." – Mary (43:49)
  • Emotional impacts deepen:
    "I don't want anybody touching me. I don't want my own husband touching me. Like, you just feel disgusting, you feel violated, you feel manipulated." – Two unnamed patients (43:59)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the abruptness of closure:
  "I am pissed and terrified at this point because I, I knew something was wrong. Like I knew something was not right with this clinic." – Mary (04:55)

• On isolation and crowdsourcing answers:
  "I don't have the answers, but maybe, like, all together, we can kind of figure out what's going on." – Sydney (09:36)

• On the fragility of hope in fertility treatment:
  “For us, we just can't get started without our embryos. So we're literally just stuck. ...I just keep getting older and my embryos keep sitting in a tank.” – Mary (43:05)

• On being confronted with chaos:
  "Any bad person could have just literally crawled over the counter and gotten people's medical records." – Mary's Husband (08:02)

• On the mishandling of sensitive materials:
  "I observed Dr. Vazquez opening embryo and sperm cryogenic storage tanks without using personal protective equipment, which is a violation of infection control protocols." – Inspector Deborah Verna (36:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Mary's Last Appointment: 02:12 – 04:31
• News of Closure Reaches Patients: 04:55 – 07:00
• Clinic Stakeout / Facebook Group: 07:00 – 10:12
• Taylor Turner's Story: 10:12 – 12:51
• Mary’s Fertility Journey: 16:54 – 23:42
• Patients Assemble at Clinic: 23:42 – 26:14
• Ovation Nurses & Medical Records: 27:12 – 29:08
• Attorney Dixie and Record Retrieval: 29:24 – 31:54
• Inspectors Arrive: 34:15 – 39:57
• Attorney General's Lawsuit & Outcomes: 40:10 – 43:23
• Preview of Next Episode: 43:23 – 44:13

Tone and Style

Throughout, the episode is empathetic, raw, and urgent. Patient voices convey desperation, heartbreak, and anger, often with an undercurrent of dark humor and survivor’s irony. Jeltsen’s narration is measured and investigative, with the occasional personal aside, contributing to the sense of community and shared trauma among those affected.

Conclusion

“The Stakeout” vividly captures the confusion, fear, and deep personal losses experienced by patients after the sudden collapse of Nashville’s CRH fertility clinic. Beyond individual tragedies, the episode highlights systemic issues: lack of oversight, patient vulnerabilities, and the staggering emotional and financial costs of fertility treatment. The story underlines how, in a barely regulated industry, those with the most at stake are often left to fend for themselves. The episode closes with a hint of even more shocking revelations to come.