A judge in Salem approved settlements Friday that resolved likely lawsuits from the families of five toddlers, who as newborn babies suffered broken bones and other injuries while being cared for at the Henrico Doctors鈥 Hospital.
Circuit Judge David Carson said he was keeping confidential the amounts of money to be placed in trust accounts structured to provide payments to the victims, once they come of age, 鈥渙ver quite a long period of time.鈥
The civil settlements are related to the criminal case of Erin Strotman, a former nurse at the Richmond-area hospital, who is facing 20 felony counts of child abuse and malicious wounding of the patients under her care.
Strotman
John Owen, a Richmond attorney who represents the hospital and its owner, said during a hearing in Salem Circuit Court that an investigation took too long to identify Strotman as the culprit.
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From 2022 to 2024, at least nine newborns suffered unexplained fractures to their arms, legs and ribs while they were in the hospital鈥檚 neonatal intensive-care unit, which treats infants born prematurely or with serious complications.
鈥淲e are very sorry for this case,鈥 Owen said as the mothers and fathers of the injured 鈥 and one of the victims 鈥 sat in the gallery. 鈥淎nd we are sorry that we find ourselves in this courtroom today.鈥
鈥淎s a hospital, and as a health care provider, this is the last thing we would like to see happen under our roof. And it will not happen again,鈥 he said, outlining systematic improvements in oversight and video surveillance made since the incidents.
The high-profile case was settled quietly in Salem, about a three-hour drive from where the abuse happened.
HCA Health Services of Virginia, which operates the Henrico hospital, filed petitions seeking approval of the settlements in an out-of-town venue because the families 鈥渨anted to be out of the spotlight, if they were able to do so,鈥 Owen said.
Four other proposed settlements are pending before Carson, who is scheduled to consider them at hearings next Thursday and Friday. The 色多多 is not naming the parents or children involved in the cases.
Carson
Meeting with each set of parents individually to review their separate compromise settlements, the judge inquired about their sons and daughters, most of whom were reported to be on the mend from their injuries.
One of the children 鈥 a curly haired boy dressed in green shorts, a flowered shirt and a white bow tie 鈥 energetically paced a courtroom hallway with his father before the hearing began.
Carson said he was sealing only the part of court documents that dealt with the financial terms of the agreements, citing concerns voiced by both sides about the 鈥渟afety and well-being鈥 of the children if such details were to become public.
Strotman, 27, was suspended from her job in 2023, after officials learned that four babies had suffered unexplained fractures to their arms, legs and ribs.
But after the nurse was allowed to return to work the following year, at least five other infants were discovered with similar injuries. She was arrested earlier this year and is awaiting trial while on bond.
On June 11, HCA Health Services of Virginia, doing business as Henrico Doctors鈥 Hospital, filed nine petitions seeking judicial approval, as required by state law, of settlements involving children.
Both the hospital and its former patients 鈥渂elieve that the compromise settlement is just and reasonable under all circumstances,鈥 the petitions state. The hospital made no payments to the parents, which is not allowed by law under the circumstances of this case.
Strotman is not named as a defendant in the civil filings. An HCA spokesman declined to comment on the case.
In 2023, hospital officials discovered four newborns in its neonatal intensive-care unit that had suffered injuries that medical experts said indicated the babies had been abused.
The hospital waited weeks to contact authorities, even though the law requires caregivers to report potential abuse within 24 hours. Henrico Doctors鈥 investigated the situation and suspended Strotman.
Once Henrico County鈥檚 office of Child Protective Services was notified, it began its own investigation. But it could not determine who was responsible for the injuries. The hospital later installed security cameras in patients鈥 rooms and allowed Strotman to return to work in September 2024.
Several weeks later, the hospital discovered three more babies had suffered unexplained fractures. In January 2025, police arrested Strotman in a case that grew as investigators and prosecutors found additional victims.
Strotman, who has not made a plea, is expected to go to trial in February 2026. A judge will determine her fate.
Video evidence shows Strotman bending a baby鈥檚 feet to his neck, essentially folding the child 鈥渋n half or crunching him,鈥 a report by the Virginia Board of Nursing states. The footage shows Strotman using 鈥渆xcessive force鈥 and unhooking a vital-signs monitor so an alarm would not sound before she placed her hands on the child.
Not all nine victims in the criminal case are a part of this civil settlement to date. Correspondingly, not all nine plaintiffs in the civil cases were identified as victims in the criminal case.
鈥淚鈥檓 sorry for the circumstances that bring us all here,鈥 Carson told the families at Friday鈥檚 hearing. 鈥淏ut I am glad in the sense that there will be some closure today.鈥
Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Eric Kolenich contributed to this report.
