NICU nurse broke babies' bones; Virginia prosecutor says hospital blocked full probe

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — With former NICU nurse Erin Strotman behind bars for breaking babies' bones at Henrico Doctors' Hospital, and a special grand jury investigation into allegations of criminal conduct at the hospital now concluded, CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit sat down with Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor to ask the questions the community has continued to raise — and the questions that remain unanswered — about a case that rocked the greater Richmond area and led to changes in state law.

Why criminal accountability ended with Strotman

Strotman was convicted of hurting 9 babies at Henrico Doctors' Hospital, but the criminal accountability ended with her.

Hipolit asked Taylor directly whether the hospital, its administrators, and staff hampered or hurt the investigation.

"It has always been my feeling. It has always been my office's feeling, and certainly I feel comfortable saying this on behalf of Henrico Police and Child Protective Services that there were actions and inactions that were taken by the hospital that did not allow this matter to be thoroughly investigated at the time that the first babies were identified as being harmed by non accidental actions and having non accidental injuries," Taylor said.

When asked what evidence would have been needed to hold someone at the hospital criminally accountable, Taylor pointed to obstacles in obtaining records.

"Well, that's really kind of the million dollar question. There were efforts to subpoena certain documents, but as we have shared with you and the public before, there were efforts where we could not obtain those records or that other information, and without having that, there's no, there was no other avenues for the grand jury to try to get any other information," Taylor said.

The 10-day delay in reporting suspected abuse to CPS

Four NICU babies at Henrico Doctors' Hospital suffered unexplainable fractures in 2023, but hospital administration waited 10 days to report to Child Protective Services after a veteran radiologist said he believed the injuries suggested abuse.

Hipolit asked Taylor why her office opted for a safety plan — including cameras and training — rather than charging anyone at the hospital with failure to report to CPS within the required 24-hour window, and whether she regrets that decision.

"I think the first thing we have to understand is that at the time the failure to report was a finable offense and did not really bring any what I think is kind of appropriate response for one's actions, so in trying to assess what we thought was an opportunity that we could take at that time, we came up with the idea of making sure that we had in place what we thought would be preventative measures in hoping that we wouldn't see a reoccurrence beyond that of what had happened in 2023. That was the hope. Clearly, that's not what happened," Taylor said.

According to the special grand jury report, Dr. Gerry Reese, a prominent veteran radiologist, told the hospital's Chief Medical Officer on September 10 that he believed the injuries were the result of abuse — yet the hospital still did not report for 10 days. Hipolit asked Taylor why she thinks the hospital waited.

"I cannot answer that question, because I literally do not know why that I think is probably one of the unanswered questions that people would like to know why, but I can't provide that answer to the public or to those families," Taylor said.

Strotman's return to work in 2024 and a disputed claim by HCA

An internal hospital investigation in 2023 led to Strotman being placed on leave, but she was returned to work in 2024.

In its statement responding to the special grand jury report, HCA said: "The decision to allow Ms. Strotman to return to work was not made in isolation. Our team consulted with the Commonwealth Attorney's Office on her potential return, and they had no concerns as long as appropriate training and guardrails were in place."

Hipolit asked Taylor directly whether her office was consulted and whether she told HCA she had no concerns.

"I'm surprised to hear that, because that is not what happened, and certainly the hospital has their HR reasons, they've got their actions, and that the Commonwealth's Attorney had absolutely nothing to do about who's employed, when they're employed, and when they return back to work," Taylor said.

After the interview with Taylor, HCA sent Hipolit an August 2024 email exchange between prosecutor Alison Martin and outside counsel for the hospital. Outside counsel wrote: "my understanding is that your office does not object to the nurses put on leave returning to HDH once they've recieved the training." Martin responded: "No objection at all.”

Hipolit also asked Taylor whether her office could have held the hospital accountable for failing to monitor camera footage — particularly after Strotman was brought back to work — as part of the 2023 safety plan.

"That is not a criminal violation. Certainly, what the public should know is that this is not anything when it came to the hospital administration. My office has no responsibility or bearing on how the hospital is doing their administration of their employees," Taylor said.

CBS 6 uncovers hospitals cannot be fined for failures in Virginia

A CBS 6 investigation found that hospitals in Virginia cannot be fined for failures. The special grand jury recommended that change.

Taylor lobbied on behalf of legislation brought by Delegate Dolores McQuinn that enhanced the penalty for failure to report to CPS within 24 hours.

Hipolit asked whether Taylor would support similar action to mandate fines for hospitals.

"I will continue to work with the representatives in this area, including Delegate McQuinn, as to make sure that they feel comfortable that we have a setup that we do have a regulatory system and administrative system that will ensure that hospitals and other care facilities are conducting themselves in the best way possible to make sure that they are offering the most exceptional and safe care for the patients that they are responsible for, you know, for helping and caring for," Taylor said.

When Hipolit noted that she did not sound 100% committed to mandating fines for hospitals, Taylor pushed back.

"Oh, I'm going to be supportive of any and everything that will ensure that this never happens again, and that we do not have a series of babies get harmed in a hospital in this county or in this commonwealth ever again," Taylor said.

Why Strotman received only 3 years behind bars

A judge sentenced Strotman to 3 years behind bars for hurting 9 babies — the maximum allowed under her negotiated plea deal.

Hipolit asked Taylor why Strotman received only three years.

“Numerous families involved in this case, and certainly the evidence for each one of the babies that were, you know, stated as the victims for these crimes, there's different evidence for each baby, and some of the evidence indicated that there was a broken bone injury. Not every baby did have that. In some of the cases, we did have video evidence, but not in every case did we have that. And certainly, when we are trying to present numerous cases. Cases with numerous victims that have a spectrum of evidence and a spectrum of injuries. The way to present that case can sometimes be hampered if we are trying to do it as a whole or individually, and at the end of the day, and for every time that we met with each of the families, this is what was said to them. I want to make sure that every family gets a voice, because they haven't had a voice until this case, and until we would be able to have a sentencing hearing, so to get to the point where there was a guilty for each child, which then would give every family for each one of those babies that opportunity to take that stand or write a letter to the court for that sentencing hearing in order to accomplish that goal, there was going to have to be some understanding of negotiations, and I didn't like it," Taylor said.

"I told the families I didn't like the three years. I don't think there was ever going to be any amount of time that was going to give anybody any sense of comfort at all, so I regret that you know that sometimes the complexities of investigations that happen in courtrooms can get lost when the public is trying to read everything or try to watch something in a, you know, five minute segment, and so I can just say that I hope that they trust when the family stood behind me at the end of that sentencing and stood behind me and said that they supported our actions, that they appreciated the work that my office did, and that they all felt some type of closure that Erin Strotman was held accountable for her actions," Taylor said.

A question of accountability

Hipolit asked Taylor whether she feels the hospital and its leadership were ultimately held accountable for what happened in their NICU.

"I don't know if we'll ever feel like we've gotten a sense of complete closure to this matter, but at this time I'm proud of the work that my office has done," Taylor said.

CBS 6 asked HCA for a one-on-one interview and submitted questions about the grand jury's findings and Shannon Taylor’s statements. HCA did not agree to an interview and did not respond to the questions. HCA did, however, state that when the hospital first suspected the fractures could have been the result of abuse, it promptly reported the matter to CPS. HCA also reiterated that Strotman was returned to work with the awareness and approval of Taylor's office.

📲: CONNECT WITH US

Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.