Virginia hospital ‘failed to protect’ injured infants, report says

A Virginia hospital’s actions have drawn scrutiny after seven babies suffered fractures and a nurse was charged with child abuse.

A report from the Virginia Department of Health, which was obtained by the Washington Post, shows that the hospital failed to report suspected abuse in a timely manner after four babies were injured in 2023. A year later, three more infants experienced fractures.

The report reveals that two inspectors conducted an unannounced visit to Henrico Doctors’ Hospital outside Richmond in September 2023 after the hospital reported four premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit suffered fractures in just one month. The report concludes that “the facility failed to protect and promote each patient’s rights” by waiting longer than the time federally required to report suspected child abuse and by being unable to identify all staff members who came into contact with NICU patients.

In response, the hospital provided a plan of correction that called for installing two new security systems, implementing daily examinations of NICU babies and launching a unit-wide safety training program.

After more babies were injured in 2024, the hospital’s NICU stopped admitting patients and a nurse was charged with child abuse.

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was arrested Jan. 2 on charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection with an incident that occurred Nov. 10, court records show. A lawyer for Strotman, Scott Cardani, declined to comment. Strotman’s family could not be reached by phone.

Henrico County police said in a news release that they have reopened the cases involving mysteriously injured babies at the hospital from 2023 and 2024.

The hospital said in statements posted to its website that it is cooperating with law enforcement and mandating additional safety training for all health-care providers interacting with minors, but it declined to answer specific questions from the Post.

“We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,” the hospital said in a statement Jan. 3. “We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation.”

The investigation involves seven babies with injuries that Child Protective Services deemed were not accidental, Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said in an interview. But that number could change. Taylor has asked families who suspect they may have experienced something similar to come forward, and she confirmed that her office has received additional reports. She declined to specify how many or say if they occurred at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. When asked whether the hospital could be held responsible for the injuries, Taylor said the investigation will seek to determine if criminal negligence was at play.

“It’s about the accountability factor,” Taylor said. “We will see where the evidence takes us. So long as we’ve got evidence to support the charges, it is our intention to make sure that we can hold anybody who contributed to the injuries of these babies accountable within the law.”

The Virginia Department of Health report found that the hospital violated federal code that requires health-care professionals to report any suspected abuse within 24 hours. Although hospital staff members discovered the four fractures between Aug. 5, 2023, and Sept. 5, 2023, the report shows they waited to notify the Department of Social Services until Sept. 20, 2023. One staff member told inspectors they waited until they consulted “outside experts” including a pediatric radiologist, geneticist, neonatologist and pediatric orthopedist.

Excerpts from these experts’ findings in the report show one concluded on Sept. 5 that “concern for nonaccidental trauma is raised” and another wrote on Sept. 6 that they had “discussed with the NICU team that non accidental trauma needs to be considered.” Weeks then passed before the hospital alerted the Department of Social Services.

Inspectors also took issue with the fact that the hospital did not keep a record of every staff member who came in contact with NICU patients, writing in the report that “the facility failed to identify hospital staff who collect lab specimens from a vulnerable patient population.”

The report detailed the hospital’s plan of correction, which said leadership devised a comprehensive strategy to prevent unexplained fractures by introducing more training and daily examinations of each NICU baby led by neonatologists. The report also shows that the hospital installed cameras on Jan. 17, 2024, in every NICU room, allowing parents to check on their babies at any time.

Those cameras appear to have played a key role in Strotman’s arrest. In a criminal complaint filed in Henrico County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, a detective writes that video footage from Nov. 10 inside a 5-month-old boy’s hospital room shows Strotman “applying pressure” to the baby’s legs, then taking both legs and pushing them so his feet were by his head. The baby “looked to be crying and in distress,” reads the complaint. Medical staff members later found that the baby had a fractured right femur and tibia and multiple fractured ribs.

The Virginia Department of Health said in an email that, as of Jan. 1, it had placed the hospital’s license to operate on a conditional renewal status, requiring the hospital to continue prohibiting admissions to the NICU, follow safety processes and allow regular inspections from licensing personnel.

News of Strotman’s arrest ignited a social media maelstrom, with people calling for additional charges to be brought against her in connection with the other six injured babies and alleging the infants had been targeted because they are Black. In a news release, Henrico police rejected the idea that race played a factor in the suspected abuse. Dominique Hackey – the father of one of the injured babies and a member of the only family that has spoken publicly about their experience – said that although his son is Black, that is not true of all the injured infants.

After police addressed the racism allegations, Black Lives Matter Richmond VA rallied outside of the hospital holding posters with handwritten messages. One read “Protect BLACK Babies Now.” Another: “Henrico Doctors this is on you.” For the Richmond group’s founder, Lawrence West, it didn’t matter if not all of the babies were Black – this cause was personal. He too had experience with a child in intensive care. His son had spent roughly 100 days in the NICU.

“I feel like one thing we do well is speak up for people that are victims of a failed system,” West said of his organization. “That’s what we specialize in.”

West said that the hospital’s actions of adding training and cameras are a start but that he hopes to see the hospital reach out to the affected families. Specifically, he said he knows the financial turmoil these families may be experiencing and said the hospital should provide financial support.

“Regardless of whether the offender is in jail or not, the hospital needs to take some accountability,” West said. “Businesses are held accountable by their pockets.”

West said he organized the protest to advocate for the most vulnerable population of all: newborn babies.

“The most innocent people on earth are newborn babies,” West said. “There’s no sin, they’ve done nothing except be born. They can’t fight back, they can’t defend themselves. They can’t even tell anyone, there’s no one they could ask to defend them. That’s where we come in.”