A woman from Chesterfield County, Va., was charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection with an ongoing investigation involving Henrico Doctors' Hospital neonatal ICU, Henrico police said in a Jan. 3 statement.
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was identified as a suspect in this case and faces the charges in connection with an incident that occurred in November, police said.
According to her Facebook page, Ms. Strotman, a registered nurse, joined HCA Healthcare's Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Va., in June 2019. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare confirmed she is no longer an 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," HCA Healthcare said in a statement shared with Becker's.
"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.
"For more than 30 years, the NICU at Henrico Doctors' Hospital has provided necessary and life-saving care to babies in central Virginia and we remain focused on ensuring the availability of that care in our community."
On Dec. 24, Henrico Doctors' Hospital said it was temporarily suspending admissions to its neonatal ICU after discovering in late November and December that three infants had "unexplainable fractures," similar to an incident involving four infants in summer 2023.
"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 hospital said at the time.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we are not admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time. 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."
On its website, the hospital also said it took immediate steps to enhance safety measures in the neonatal ICU.
Henrico police said they are thoroughly investigating the matter, including reviewing dozens of videos from inside the neonatal ICU, and are re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of a broader investigation.