HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Irvo Otieno's family is speaking out about the corrective action plan put together by Parham Doctors' Hospital, the hospital where their loved one was first taken during a mental health crisis. Otieno was later charged with a crime, sent to jail, and eventually taken to a state psychiatric facility where he died.
The Otieno family said they had seen the plan Parham Doctors' Hospital submitted, but claimed it lacked answers to many of the crucial questions about what happened to Irvo before he was removed from the hospital and taken to jail on March 3, 2023, three days before his death at Central State Hospital.
A recent Virginia Health Department investigation found Parham Doctors' Hospital staff failed to provide the necessary stabilizing treatment after Otieno was "presented to the emergency department with an emergency medical condition."
As CBS 6 previously reported, in its corrective action plan, hospital owner HCA said it felt its staff, “provided appropriate stabilizing treatment but was not able to fully stabilize the patient because our care was interrupted by the intervention of Henrico County Police officers.”
It also detailed a new process for better communicating with law enforcement when officers bring in someone suffering a mental health crisis.
But in a statement, the Otieno family was very critical of the plan, saying that Parham Doctors' Hospital, “seeks to deflect blame for its own inactions… and fails to acknowledge the passivity and timidity of its physician in directing care.”
The family also said they were curious why Otieno never saw a psychiatrist despite his mental condition. They want to know how he was treated during the roughly six hours between the time he was given medication, and when police took him to the Henrico jail.
CBS 6 has reached out to Henrico Police for a response to the statements in the corrective action plan but has not yet heard back.
Otieno died in March while handcuffed and pinned to the floor of Central State Hospital for about 11 minutes by seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees.
His death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.
All 10 defendants were indicted on second-degree murder charges, but charges against two of the hospital employees were later dropped.
In September 2023, Otieno's family reached an $8.5 million settlement with the state, county, and the sheriff whose deputies were involved in his restraint.
The settlement agreement said the state, county, and the sheriff have not admitted any liability and deny that their actions caused Otieno’s death, but have agreed to collectively pay the $8.5 million to Otieno’s family.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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