Several babies at a Virginia hospital were found with bizarre, unexplainable fractures that have resulted in the hospital temporarily halting admission into its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Henrico County will no longer admit babies to its NICU until investigators can pinpoint the cause of the fractures. The fractures were noticed in November and December of this year, closely mirroring an incident from the summer of 2023 in which similar fractures were discovered on four babies, reported WRIC.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we are not admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time. 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," the hospital said in a statement.
The hospital initiated an internal investigation after notifying authorities and families of patients.
"We have provided footage to the proper authorities and have healthcare professionals reviewing the videos. The process is thorough and time-consuming, but they are making steady progress. So far during our review of the videos, no misconduct or accidental actions have been found," hospital officials stated.
"Additionally, we implemented an observer system where each provider in the NICU is accompanied by another clinician when they are present in a baby's room to help ensure all protocols are followed," they continued.
The hospital said it will also be implementing various other safety measures in order to address the issue, including providing staff with additional training on in-person safety, thorough examinations of each baby by neonatologists and even new security equipment for the NICU.
"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 in their statement.
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