Hospital Horror: Virginia Nurse Abused NICU Infants

This atrocity speaks to a broader issue of deteriorating infant and maternal health for Black and Indigenous Americans

This story is almost beyond comprehension. Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, a 26-year-old registered nurse, has been charged with breaking the bones of infants, who are disproportionately Black infants, in the Henrico Doctors Hospital NICU in Henrico County, Virginia. As of now, authorities are aware of at least seven babies she abused, with one baby suffering 12 fractures. The now active investigation may uncover more such cases of horrific abuse.

This is not a crime from some dark chapter of history. This is happening in 2025 America, and it is more common than most realize. Let’s Address this.

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, of Chesterfield County, Virginia, has been charged with malicious wounding and child abuse. Photo: Henrico County Police

The Background of the Abuse

Strotman’s co-workers are quoted as admitting:

The majority of the babies were black babies, when she came back when they noticed the pattern, she tried to throw them off by targeting a white baby and a girl baby.

These details are horrifying enough on their own, but what makes this story even more outrageous is how the hospital appears to have handled it. According to reports, Strotman was suspended with pay after initial suspicions of abuse—only to be brought back to work without consequence. When the abuse began once more, the authorities were notified. Now finally, Strotman has been charged, arrested, and denied a bond hearing—meaning she’ll remain in custody until a court date in March.

But I’m writing about this horrifying case because it speaks to a broader issue.

Indeed, we must ask: Who else knew about this abuse and did nothing? And who allowed her to return to care for vulnerable children, without consequence? The hospital’s role in this case raises troubling questions. Was this a case of gross incompetence, or was the hospital complicit in covering up harm done to Black infants? Either way, the system failed catastrophically.

My wife and I experienced this very hospital first hand. In 2013 my wife delivered our second child at Henrico hospital and we had a terrible experience dealing with the nurses and staff. At the time, I chalked it up to a one-off situation. But now? I cannot help but wonder if that experience was part of a broader, systemic issue within this hospital?

Regardless, the reality is that what happened in Henrico is not an isolated incident. It’s part of a long-standing pattern of racial disparities in healthcare that puts Black and Indigenous children and mothers at greater risk of harm. And the data on that systemic harm is daunting.

Deadly Disparities in Maternal & Infant Healthcare

We must recognize the brutal reality in this country: Black children are nearly three times more likely to die in infancy than white children. Black mothers are also nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than are white mothers. Indigenous children and mothers suffer a rate double that of white families.

Credit: March of Dimes

According to the March of Dimes, the average infant mortality rate between 2020 and 2022 was 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births for Black infants, compared to 4.4 deaths for white infants. And 8.1 for Indigenous children. These disparities are not coincidental—they are the result of a healthcare system built on structural racism, implicit bias, and profit-driven policies that treat human lives as commodities. And they are even more pronounced in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), where the most vulnerable infants, like those abused by Erin Strotman, receive care.

When a nurse in a NICU—a place meant to save lives—becomes the source of harm, it exposes a healthcare system that has lost its way.

For-Profit Healthcare Model Continues To Fails Us

This is why we must confront the reality that healthcare in America is not designed to protect everyone equally. It’s designed to maximize profit. It’s no wonder The Lancet reports that our current exploitative for profit model results in at least 68,000 annual preventable deaths. That’s one preventable death every 7.5 minutes—year round.

Under the influence of HELL Corporations, healthcare providers prioritize bottom lines over patient care. They cut corners, reduce staffing levels, and rely on flawed oversight mechanisms that fail to prevent tragedies like this. And when abuse or negligence happens, they often look the other way to protect their reputations and financial interests. It is no wonder that nurses nationwide are striking for better working conditions.

As I’ve written many times before, especially in the last few months, we desperately need a system that treats healthcare as a human right. A system that operates with high levels of regulation and accountability to prevent harm and protect the most vulnerable among us. Healthcare should never be about profit margins. It should be about saving lives.

What Actions Can We Take?

First, if you have any information about what happened in Henrico, please contact the authorities:

• Henrico Police Det. M. Lynch: police@henrico.gov

• Crime Stoppers: (804) 780-1000

Second, take it from a father of three, be vigilant in your own healthcare experiences.

• Know your doctors and nurses. Build relationships with the medical professionals who will care for you and your loved ones.

• Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to demand transparency and accountability from healthcare providers.

• Trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, speak up. Your vigilance could save a life.

Finally, continue to speak up to your elected officials and demand they stop taking corporate money from HELL corporations, and start demanding guaranteed universal healthcare as a human right.

We must push for systemic changes to ensure this never happens again. That means advocating for universal healthcare, increased regulation to prevent abuse, and holding hospitals accountable when they fail their patients.

Words of Accountability, Not Comfort

Nurses have tough jobs. And the horrific acts of Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman should not malign a noble profession. Similarly, it would be a grave mistake to dismiss what happened in Henrico as the act of one evil person. This is not just about holding Strotman accountable. It is about holding an entire system accountable—a system that allowed this abuse to happen in the first place. While this abuse may have been committed by one person, it was enabled by an entire system and administration that puts profit over people. This abuse is a symptom of a sick healthcare system that consistently undervalues human life for shareholder value—and it is not a system we can continue to tolerate.

I am hopeful that the families of these beautiful infants find some semblance of justice in the coming months and years. But until we as a society recognize the violence and racism embedded in our for profit healthcare policies and practices, and act to change these exploitative for profit models that help enable such abuse, we will continue to see stories like Strotman. Let us instead take action as mentioned above, and demand better.

For our children. For our families. For all of us.