Hospital Shuts Down NICU After Disturbing Discovery
A hospital in Richmond, Virginia, paused admissions to its neonatal intensive care unit after three babies were found with mysterious injuries.
The three babies in the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU had “unexplainable fractures,” bearing similarity “to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023,” according to a Tuesday statement from the hospital.
“We initiated a thorough internal investigation, informed the families and notified the proper authorities and regulatory agencies and worked collaboratively with them on their investigations,” the statement continued.
The decision not to admit new babies into the NICU was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital explained that while pre-term babies sometimes experience fractures since they lack full fetal development, the facility is “actively working to determine how these fractures occurred.”
All NICU caregivers at the hospital were required to participate in supplemental safety training, while there will be new head-to-toe examinations of all babies in the NICU.
The hospital also installed new security systems and implemented an “observer system where each provider in the NICU is accompanied by another clinician when they are present in a baby’s room to help ensure all protocols are followed.”
Footage from the NICU has been provided to law enforcement, while healthcare providers are examining the videos.
“The process is thorough and time-consuming, but they are making steady progress. So far during our review of the videos, no misconduct or accidental actions have been found,” the statement noted. “The safety of our NICU babies is our highest priority and we are actively working to pursue additional precautions to prevent any future incidents.”
Henrico Police were brought in to help with examining the incident, per a report from WRLH-TV.
“Henrico Police have been made aware of an internal investigation involving Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” the agency said.
“Detectives within Henrico Police’s Special Victims Unit have been assigned to follow up and investigate to determine if there are any criminal violations that have occurred. At this time, no charges have been filed.”
Henrico Police are working alongside Child Protective Services within the Henrico Department of Social Services, as well as Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Health, and the office of Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, to examine the evidence available.
“Due to the sensitive medical nature of this investigation, additional details will be limited until the investigation is concluded,” the statement added.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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