Virginia hospital stops NICU admissions after babies found with 'unexplainable fractures'

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A hospital in Virginia has announced that it will no longer admit any babies into its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after several babies were found with "unexplainable fractures."

According to Henrico Doctors' Hospital, in late November and December, the hospital discovered that three babies in its Henrico Doctors' Hospital NICU had unexplained fractures, similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer 2023.

The hospital said it initiated an internal investigation, informed the families and notified the proper authorities and regulatory agencies.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are not admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time," Henrico Doctors' Hospital said in a statement. "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 hospital said it has taken the following steps to enhance safety measures in its 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 two new security systems to ensure proper care and parents’ peace of mind.
• A camera system that records all activity in its 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.

According to the hospital, it has provided footage to the proper authorities with healthcare professionals reviewing the videos.

"The process is thorough and time-consuming, but they are making steady progress," Henrico Doctors' Hospital said in its statement. "So far during our review of the videos, no misconduct or accidental actions have been found."

Additionally, the hospital said it has 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.

"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 Doctors' Hospital said.

Nexstar's WRIC reached out to the Henrico County Police Division and were told detectives with the division's Special Victims Unit have been assigned to follow up and investigate this incident to determine if there are any criminal violations that have occurred.

According to police, no charges have been filed as of Thursday, Dec. 26.