RICHMOND, Va. — Legislation that would bolster penalties for failure to report suspected child abuse is moving forward in Virginia's General Assembly — but not before senators stripped out language that would have explicitly held hospital CEOs accountable for failing to make that report.
The bill was introduced by Delegate Delores McQuinn, a Democrat from Henrico, in direct response to concerns raised during Henrico County's investigation into a nurse who broke the bones of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Henrico Doctors' Hospital. As CBS6 previously reported, nobody at the hospital contacted Child Protective Services right away after the injuries were discovered.
State senators from both political parties questioned Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor and McQuinn about specific language in the bill during a Senate subcommittee hearing.
The portion of the bill that drew the most scrutiny would have required "any person in charge of the hospital who has been informed of a reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child" to report the suspected abuse to Child Protective Services within 24 hours.
McQuinn said the bill's intent was straightforward.
"It's here to clarify and strengthen who must report suspected child abuse or neglect," McQuinn said.
Taylor previously told a House subcommittee that in 2023, the hospital first discovered a baby with a non-accidental fracture on Aug. 5, but did not contact CPS. A second baby with a non-accidental fracture was found on Aug. 16, and again the hospital did not contact CPS. On Sept. 3, two more babies were found with non-accidental fractures. Nobody from the hospital contacted CPS about the broken bones until CEO Ryan Jensen and Vice President of Quality Denise Weisberg called CPS on Sept. 21.
As CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit exclusively reported last year, a heavily redacted DSS report showed a NICU doctor told detectives she had asked her medical director whether they should call CPS about one of the babies' injuries. She said he told her the matter would be taken to leadership and looked into by the NICU nursing director and the hospital's Chief Medical Officer.
WATCH: Virginia hospital CEO avoids questions after babies injured in NICU, 94 infants infected with MRSA
Dominique Hackey, whose son was injured in the NICU, spoke about the hospital's failure to act quickly.
"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," Hackey said.
Senators on both sides of the aisle said they believe current law already identifies hospital CEOs and administrators as mandatory reporters — specifically, a line in existing law that states "any professional staff person employed by a hospital" is required to report suspected abuse or neglect.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, a Republican from Rockingham County, questioned why the new language was necessary.
"I think it's covered and I don't know why, if those people were aware, they couldn't have been held accountable under current law," Obenshain said.
Notably, Taylor opted not to press charges against anyone for failure to report the suspected abuse.
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Obenshain also pushed back on the value of adding the new language.
"You've got some precise language lines 26-28 already in the code, and you're inserting basically an exclamation point. I don't know that we do that," Obenshain said.
Taylor acknowledged the characterization with some humor.
"I do like an exclamation point. I'm not going to lie," Taylor said.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, a Democrat from Charlottesville, also raised questions about what the new language would accomplish.
"I'm wondering what we're getting with this new language that we're not already supposed to get under existing language," Deeds said.
The Senate subcommittee ultimately struck the CEO and administrator language from the bill but voted to move forward with the enhanced penalties. Under current law, a first offense for failure to report is a $500 fine, and subsequent failures could result in a $1,000 fine. The bill would make a first offense a Class 1 misdemeanor and a second offense a Class 6 felony.
McQuinn said she was encouraged by the committee's unanimous support for the enhanced penalties.
"It is our obligation to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to protect them, and I think obviously the Senate, the committee felt the same way because they were all yay votes and zero nays," McQuinn said.
When asked whether she planned to accept the amendment or try to reintroduce the stripped language, McQuinn said she wants to have additional discussions before making any decisions.
Watch Melissa Hipolit's reporting on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com. Have something for Melissa to investigate? Email her.
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