Police have arrested a 26-year-old woman after several babies at a Virginia hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) suffered “unexplainable fractures.”
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, of Chesterfield County, is facing charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse “in connection to an incident that occurred in November 2024,” Henrico County Police said in a Friday news release, obtained by People.
On Christmas Eve, Henrico Doctors’ Hospital announced it would not be “admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time” after three babies were found with fractures in November and December 2023. The injuries were “similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023,” the hospital release said.
HCA Virginia confirmed to People that Strotman is a former employee of the hospital.
“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 statement read.
“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,” it continued, adding that the hospital will continue to focus on providing “necessary and life-saving care” to babies in the community.
Police said they have been reviewing dozens of videos from inside the NICU and are “re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of this broader investigation,” according to the report.
“We appreciate the families’ and public’s patience as we work as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible to investigate every piece of evidence in connection to these cases,” Henrico Chief of Police Eric D. English said in the release.
“I would also like to acknowledge the unwavering efforts of our detectives who continue to comb through hundreds of hours of footage and extend my sincere gratitude to Henrico’s Child Protective Services (Department of Social Services), the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General for their assistance in this matter,” English added.
Regarding the most recent fractures, the hospital said in a news release in December that it had begun a “thorough internal investigation” and notified families, the authorities, and the proper regulatory agencies.
“While fractures occasionally happen with pre-term babies since they lack full fetal bone development, we are actively working to determine how these fractures occurred,” the release stated, according to the report.
The hospital also said it had enhanced safety protocols in the NICU, including safety training programs, and more thorough examinations of each baby in the NICU. The hospital said it also installed new security systems with live-streaming technology.
One of the babies who suffered an injury in 2023 is Noah Hackey. The baby’s parents, Tori and Dominique, discovered Noah had a fractured tibia while he was at the NICU in September.
Local CBS-affiliated station WTVR reported that the parents received a letter from Henrico’s Department of Social Services. Per the letter, CPS said its investigation revealed “level 1 physical abuse of Noah by an employee by the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.” The employee’s identity was not released at the time of the letter.
“We are anxiously waiting to hear that they were able to find the person liable for this,” Dominique, the child’s father, told the outlet at the time.
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