Inset: Erin Strotman (Henrico County Jail). Background: Henrico Doctors’ Hospital (Google Maps).
The Virginia Department of Health determined a hospital “failed to prevent abuse” when a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse allegedly broke the bones of premature babies.
The DOH issued the report this month after 26-year-old Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman was charged in January with malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection to an incident that occurred in November at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond.
A copy of the DOH’s report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was posted by local CBS affiliate WTVR. It details the alleged abuse Strotman inflicted on the infant. Strotman is identified as EMP11 in the report, the TV station reports. Executives and staff reviewed videos from Strotman’s care of the child in question on Nov. 10. The video allegedly shows Strotman “forcefully” pushing the baby’s legs towards the infant’s chest and face. She released the legs and repeated the action, the report says.
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Strotman allegedly assaulted the child in a similar way on Oct. 29 and Nov. 13. In addition, she seemingly forced the infant’s head down on their chest and only held the baby by their head and leg, the report alleges. The infant obviously was impacted by Strotman’s actions as shown by the infant’s increased heart rate and decreased oxygen levels, the report noted.
The now former nurse also violated other hospital policies such as holding the infant with one hand and not putting rails up on cribs when she was not supervising the baby, the report said.
Hospital staff seemed dumbfounded after watching the videos.
“We don’t know why [EMP11] is doing anything [EMP11] is doing,” one employee told state investigators.
Other videos allegedly showed Strotman “forcefully” inserting a suction device into the baby’s nostril in an attempt at intubation. However, nurses watching the videos stated Strotman was using the wrong device, the report said.
State investigators determined the hospital “failed to prevent abuse; identify injuries of unknown origin as indicators of potential abuse or neglect; report and investigate injuries of unknown origin.”
The report also noted Strotman was previously disciplined along with another nurse in September 2023 after four babies suffered fractures. Strotman was placed on admirative leave for a week and allowed to return after receiving training, the report said.
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital released the following statement to local media outlets:
The CMS report identified some areas that did not meet the standard of care that we expect and that our patients deserve. We worked diligently to address the findings and CMS has accepted our action plan. We have been closely collaborating with regulators to further improve our NICU by increasing our training, implementing new security measures and changing our reporting protocols. We appreciate the regulators’ commitment to safety and the dedication of our colleagues who have helped our hospital care for our community for more than 50 years.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Strotman was indicted on six new felony child abuse and neglect charges this week, court records say. According to local CBS affiliate WTVR, the charges relate to her treatment of four babies between 2022 and 2024. The neglect charge is related to her treatment of a fifth infant who was not injured.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told reporters Tuesday after Strotman’s first round of charges, a family’s attorney made her office aware of an assault back in 2022. No one had alerted authorities about the assault at the time it occurred, she said.
Taylor said authorities are still investigating allegations that Strotman assaulted four other infants. She has not been charged in those cases.
Strotman allegedly injured multiple children. According to the hospital, three babies suffered “unexplained fractures” in November 2024. Four other babies suffered similar injuries in the summer of 2023, the hospital said.
Investigators with the Henrico County Police Division reviewed dozens of videos from inside the NICU and were able to point the finger at Strotman. Detectives continue to comb through evidence, including “hundreds of hours of footage” in hopes of bringing justice to each baby who suffered abuse.
“We appreciate the families’ and public’s patience as we work as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible to investigate every piece of evidence in connection to these cases,” Henrico Police Chief Eric D. English said in a statement.
The hospital in a press release described Strotman as a “former employee.” As a precaution, the medical center shut down its NICU while the investigation proceeded. It reopened in February.
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
One of the babies allegedly abused in the summer of 2023 was Noah Hackey, who suffered a broken tibia. His father Dominque Hackey explained to WTVR that Noah and his twin Micah were born prematurely at the hospital in August 2023 and spent time together in the NICU.
When Noah was about two weeks old they noticed some discoloration in his left leg. An X-ray unveiled a fracture of the tibia. The family filed a report with Child Protective Services, which determined an employee was responsible for breaking the boy’s leg, but did not determine which employee.
Hackey was flabbergasted that his son wasn’t the only one allegedly abused.
“They failed strictly on multiple levels with multiple different families, and they need to be held accountable as well because that shouldn’t have happened,” he told WTVR. “If they were suspicious of some person enough to let them go they shouldn’t have brought them back. They failed, simple as that.”
Prosecutors have also obtained Strotman’s text messages that they say provided insight into her mindset.
During a bond hearing earlier this year, prosecutors entered some of Strotman’s text messages into the record, according to a courtroom report from Richmond CBS affiliate WTVR. In a text message from October 2023, she allegedly said she had been pacing and felt like she took “cocaine again” even though she hadn’t. She also said she felt like she had a personality disorder.
“I feel manic,” she wrote. “It takes everything in me not to start s—.”
The day before her arrest she allegedly texted she was “five seconds away from checking myself into crisis.”
Strotman remains free on bond.
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