A nursing suspect sits snugly at home, awaiting trial due to a judge’s decision. In 2023 and 2025, a series of lurid crimes against neonates occurred in the NICU at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital (Virginia). Erin Strotman RN, is accused of actions so heinous that Lucifer himself may consider them a bridge too far. Nevertheless, her former employer’s oversight of the situation is nearly as egregious.
Physically, I wasn’t in your boardroom where someone–or entity–reached conclusions, yet I was. On many occasions, I’ve been behind those corresponding doors. The difference: I’ve made a career of speaking up as a physician–in no uncertain terms– when warranted. The secular areas in the hierarchy of an administration could exist in any corporate realm, but in this case, they occurred in the healthcare setting. Every medical provider will report directly to a supervisor, but then, as one traverses the pyramid, department chairs, medical directors, internal review committees, CEO’s and the board of trustees sit atop the pecking order. Similar to things going from the House to the Senate, sometimes events and destructive behaviors are dealt with early on, and others of a chafing nature are sent up to be deliberated, bartered, and bitched in confidence.
The worst of all are the repeat offenders. Often, they harbor an “ace” up their sleeve: an affiliation with someone who has clout or “pull” and, thus, can get away with more than the garden-variety employee.
This person, for a kaleidoscope of reasons, has nine lives.
Occasionally, it’s straight-up nepotism; other times, the person may have been in a romantic liaison with someone at a loftier company level, and even though it may be no secret, that person is considered “untouchable.” Skin tone, perchance, can come into play. In other situations, the individual may have been tapped for promotion, placed in the pipeline to enter that guild’s apex eventually, and again, is off limits to reprisal.
The situation at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital is inarguably one for the ages, and if the allegations are verifiable, the perpetrator must face heavy-handed punishment. Equally conspicuous is that those put in place and with the authority to bring such things to a screeching halt in definitive fashion failed to do so. While one or two individuals may have marshaled the corrective process in a predetermined direction, committees and boards at varying echelons were ultimately aware. That’s just the way it is. Often, a select few finalize adjudications in the “meeting-after-the-meeting.” Yet, standing idly by and not voicing opposition to dubious verdicts makes one complicit.
In the words of Lurie Daniel-Favors Esq., “Evil wins when people are silent.”
As someone with over 20 years (clinical and executive) of experience in medicine, I have deduced that politics are incessantly at-play at any institution. Contracts are revamped, promises are made and incidents and documented destructive behaviors magically disappear into the ether. Partisanship, cronyism, and favoritism—initially in subtle undercurrents—emanate, all under the guise of strategic planning and sustainability.
At Henrico, something was amiss. According to reports, “Multiple of these [neonatal] injuries were deemed to be ‘buckle fractures,’ or the result of sudden, heavy force on a bone. The same report that described said injuries — provided to 8-News by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH)—found that [Henrico Doctors’ Hospital] delayed reporting suspicions of abuse in the case of the four babies hurt in 2023. In the wake of these findings, one former NICU nurse—26-year-old Erin Strotman of Chesterfield County — was charged with felony child neglect and malicious wounding in connection to one of the babies.” [1]
The locale (the “Old Dominion State” known as Virginia), and the stark brutality of the malfeasance evoked some history in my psyche.
“The Casual Killing Act of 1669 was written to protect rich white women from legal punishment. White women were killing the defenseless mixed-race children of their husbands and enslaved women. The women in Virginia were killing the mixed children in horrific ways. They were angry that their spouses had plenty of children outside their marriages. The small children were routinely boiled, skinned, tortured, and beaten to death. The problem was that the authorities did not want to chastise the rich white women, not that the children were being killed. After all, enslaved children were the property of their families to be done with as they wished.” [2]
Newsflash: the standard filament is that all these beautiful premature infants tortured at Henrico were Black. Hence, this is likely far from a coincidence.
Anyone with a marginal pulse, remotely abreast of right and wrong, would have an incendiary reaction upon hearing the events allegedly unfolding within that ICU. The languid speed of Henrico’s response was equally disturbing, which authorized the accused, Ms. Strotman, to return to work after an investigation. During the time that she was on her forced hiatus, there were no similar occurrences. Upon her return, those abhorrent and unspeakable actions resumed. Of note: as a privilege despite being the subject of such an inquiry, this registered nurse received paid leave for an entire year.
Who knows what the alleged may have been ruminating during those shifts in the intensive care unit, or contriving before her imprudent comeback?
To date, after her January 2025 arrest, a total of seven infants have been reported with orthopedic fractures. Yet, after forty-plus days in stir, the person in question was released on a $25,000 conditional bond on Feb. 12. This reeks of partisanship and bias. After the local judge’s decision, her parents were ecstatic and asked “for privacy.” The parents of the victims, dismayed with both the hospital administration and the judicial system, will necessitate much more than thoughts and prayers.
Regarding the healthcare institution, it does not take a nuclear physicist to decipher that “selective prosecution” may have been involved in the hospital’s punitive process. Under the circumstances, a second chance should not have been part of the equation. Remember, Henrico, the microscope and scrutiny you are now under will provide sharp images. The spotlight will be more sweltering than one could ever imagine. Hopefully, all shot callers will move with élan if anything remotely similar occurs again. In leadership, some flourish, and others fold. Moreover, many are biased, jaundiced and inebriated with power.
And just like that, with relatively minimal fanfare, the arrestee is home safe and sound, able–until May 12, 2025–to avoid the inevitable scrutiny. To be fair, in this particular crazy climate in which we live, this could’ve happened anywhere. Still, those who are in a position to modify events and bring destructive behaviors to a halt must do so. The bottom line is that this individual should have been dealt with–not afforded a paid sabbatical–the first time suspected of such horrors. There is no plausible explanation for permitting that individual back on the premises, especially in the neonatal ICU, amongst the most vulnerable of us, alone to do whatever was in her deepest, most depraved and desolate thoughts.
Henrico, do better under that microscope. Your overall insouciance is disquieting. Many outside your state sanctioning body keenly observe, as your NICU has recently reopened. Legions will focus on the impending deliberations with Erin Strotman; others will fixate on you (management) long after her rendered verdict. Bystanders too preoccupied with their position, status or compensation, are pernicious. Although hospital brass overseeing this may never encounter a jury, those reluctant to speak will eventually stumble upon a higher form of edict, accountability and justice. Consider it a “sin tax” for selective inertia.
REFERENCES
1. Nadeau, Ryan. “Henrico Doctors’ Hospital to reopen to new patients after seven babies injured, possibly abused.” WRIC 8~News. wric.com. February 7, 2025
2. Crowe, Toni. “The Slave Law Made To Protect Rich White Women From Punishment For Killing Mixed-Race Children.” Medium. medium.com. July 19, 2023
