An HCA Healthcare hospital in Richmond, Va., is temporarily suspending admissions to its neonatal intensive care unit after discovering three infants with what the hospital called "unexplainable fractures" in late November and December.
On its website, Henrico Doctors' Hospital said the fractures are similar to an incident involving four infants in summer 2023. Becker's has reached out for information on these events and will update this article if more information becomes available.
For the three recent cases, the hospital conducted an internal investigation, informed the families, and notified authorities and regulatory agencies.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we are not admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time," the hospital said. "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."
Healthcare professionals are reviewing footage, which has been shared with authorities. No misconduct or accidents have been found so far, according to the hospital.
The organization said it is implementing strategies to boost safety practices in the unit. For example, all NICU employees are required to participate in additional in-person training programs, including education about identifying and reporting suspected neglect or abuse.
Also, each clinician will have an observer when they are in an infant's room, and the unit will conduct neonatologist-led, head-to-toe patient examinations. Two new security systems and live-streaming technology for families have been installed.
"The safety of our NICU babies is our highest priority and we are actively working to pursue additional precautions to prevent any future incidents," the hospital said.
With more than 700 beds, Henrico Doctors' is one of the biggest for-profit hospitals in the U.S. It is part of Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, the nation's largest health system.