HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor confirmed her office has re-opened a 2023 case involving a baby that experienced a fracture while in the NICU at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.
CBS 6 reported Thursday about Henrico Doctors’ Hospital pausing admission to their NICU because three babies were found in late November and December with “unexplained fractures,” and the incidents were similar to incidents in the summer of 2023 involving four babies.
WATCH: Henrico Doctors' Hospital pauses NICU admissions after multiple babies had 'unexplainable fractures'
“The 2023 babies are now a part of the 2024 investigation," Taylor said. "We are bringing information from 2023 to be a part of the current investigation."
Taylor said her office is looking to see if there was 'criminal conduct' at play.
"Is it intentional criminal conduct, is it negligent conduct that rises to a criminal negligent standard, or is it a negligent standard that would be addressed by civil remedies,” Taylor said.
CBS 6 asked police if all of the 2023 babies received unexplained fractures. We are waiting to hear back.
“If there are families out there who believe that there is something that impacted their child back in 2023 at this particular hospital, they should certainly feel comfortable in reaching out to law enforcement and calling Henrico Police," Taylor said. "I don’t want to suggest that we know for sure that there are other situations, but we cannot preclude the idea that there could be other babies that were impacted."
Among those babies was Noah Hackey, whose tibia was fractured while in the NICU at the hospital in September of 2023.
We shared the Hackey family’s story on Friday, including a letter from a Child Protective Services Supervisor that says CPS "founded level 1 for physical abuse of Noah by an employee by the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.”
WATCH: Investigation found Henrico Doctors’ Hospital employee abused NICU baby in 2023
However, CPS was not able to identify that employee.
Noah’s father, Dominique Hackey, said his family was extremely happy to hear the 2023 cases have been reopened.
“The story lit a fire under everybody to make them aware that something happening at Henrico Doctors’ is not supposed to be happening and it’s a continuous and ongoing thing, and it finally needs to be put to a stop,” Hackey said. “We are anxiously waiting to hear that they were able to find the person liable for this."
Henrico Police Spokesperson Will McCue said, “all of the previously closed cases related to these incidents have been reopened as part of the recent broader investigation. I am not able to share any details pertaining to why the cases were initially closed."
Taylor said her office will be exploring whether there was any criminal conduct or criminal negligence in these cases, or if the injuries occurred because of procedural errors.
We asked HCA, which owns the hospital, some questions about what actions they took in 2023 to investigate and prevent future harm to NICU babies. A spokesperson did not answer those questions and said they did not have anything to add to their official statement, which can be found on the HCA Virginia website.
In that statement, they said healthcare professionals are reviewing video footage and that footage was also provided to the proper authorities.
So far, they have not found any misconduct or accidental actions that could have caused the fractures.
In the meantime, the hospital said it is taking these steps to enhance safety in the NICU:
- Requiring all NICU caregivers to participate in supplemental unit-wide, in-person safety training programs.
- Adopting the practice of conducting additional head-to-toe examinations of each NICU baby, led by neonatologists.
- Instituting mandatory training for all healthcare providers who interact with minors, educating the providers on the identification and reporting of suspected neglect or abuse.
- Installing new security systems to ensure proper care and parents’ peace of mind:
- A camera system that records all activity in our NICU rooms 24/7 and is available for viewing in real time or at a later date
- Live-streaming technology allowing parents to view their babies
- 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
The spokesperson added that they are working closely with the families of the babies currently in the NICU, and the majority of those families have decided to remain in their care.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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