RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia lawmaker wants to strengthen mandatory reporting laws for hospitals after a “tragic" case at Henrico Doctors' Hospital (HDH) where a nurse was found guilty of child abuse after several babies suffered broken bones in the NICU, and prosecutors say the hospital failed to report some of the fractures to Child Protective Services right away.
Delegate Delores McQuinn (D-Henrico) introduced legislation (HB1414) at the request of Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor to clarify that hospital CEOs and administrators must report suspected child abuse to Child Protective Services within 24 hours.
"Individuals failed to do what they lawfully should have done," McQuinn said about the HDH NICU case.
The push for new legislation comes after prosecutors revealed details about what they said was the hospital's delayed response to multiple cases of infants with broken bones in 2023.
According to Taylor's testimony to a House subcommittee Wednesday, the hospital first discovered a baby with non-accidental fractures on Aug. 5, 2023, but did not contact CPS. A second baby was found with non-accidental fractures on Aug. 16, and again, no report was made to CPS. On Sept. 3, two more babies were discovered with non-accidental fractures, yet the hospital still failed to contact authorities.
"We know that almost seven weeks it took for the hospital to call Henrico CPS, and during that time outside counsel was retained and an internal investigation conducted by the hospital was conducted," Taylor said.
The hospital didn't contact CPS about the broken bones until Sept. 21, nearly seven weeks after the first incident.
A heavily redacted Department of Social Services report previously obtained by CBS 6, showed a NICU doctor told detectives she had asked her medical director if they should call CPS about one of the baby's injuries. She said he told her it would be taken to leadership and looked into by the NICU nursing director and the hospital's chief medical officer.
Prosecutors say it was ultimately the hospital CEO and the vice president of quality who contacted CPS on Sept. 21.
"There appeared to be a lack of understanding regarding who was responsible for contacting CPS," Taylor said.
Current mandatory reporter laws require certain professionals like doctors, nurses and teachers to report suspected child abuse and neglect to Child Protective Services within 24 hours. However, Taylor argues there was confusion about whether hospital executives had the same duty.
"We did feel like it was necessary to take the time now to bring this to the attention of this legislative body to see if we could in fact tighten up our aspects of compliance, reporting and making sure there is no confusion as to who should be reporting when this information is known," Taylor said.
The proposed legislation would also enable prosecutors to charge hospital employees with a Class 1 misdemeanor for failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect, and a Class 6 felony for a second violation.
"That was the part that bothered me, that no one stepped in immediately and was able to stop what was happening with children," McQuinn said. "That is what they have been called to do. That is what they step in that space to do. And so it is imperative that they be held accountable."
The case has left families devastated and questioning how the hospital allowed the abuse to continue.
"It is shocking to me that the hospital didn't do more, that they let her come back that they let this happen again, I don't know how this happens twice," said Matthew Whitfield.
"This is an institution that is supposed to protect the most innocent human beings, and they didn’t. For the life of me I can't understand why," said Dominique Hackey, whose son was injured in 2023.
HCA Healthcare shared the following statement with CBS 6:
"We disagree with the notion that Henrico Doctors’ Hospital did not report the fractures in a timely fashion. Once abuse or neglect was suspected as a possible cause, the hospital reported its concern."
The bill passed out of subcommittee on a party-line vote of 7-3.
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