HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — HCA Henrico Doctors’ Hospital has issued an action plan following the investigation into the care of 28-year-old Irvo Otieno, who died while being admitted into the hospital.
On Friday, Dec. 29, Parham Doctors’ Hospital (PDH) and HCA Henrico Doctors Hospital released a document detailing a list of corrections to be made for stated deficiencies of the hospital’s care — which reportedly went into effect in early December.
The document comes as a response to the death of Otieno, who received treatment at Parham Doctors’ Hospital after being placed under an emergency custody order by Henrico Police on March 3, 2023 due to his behavior.
Surveillance footage showed Otieno being restrained and dragged into the Central State Hospital on March 6, 2023. He was eventually pressed to the floor in a hospital admissions room by 10 sheriff’s deputies and hospital personnel for over 11 minutes until he was motionless.
The footage then showed unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate Otieno after his body went limp.
Mark Krudys, the lawyer for Otieno’s family, said Otieno was experiencing mental distress at the time and was sent to the hospital for treatment.
A report from the Virginia Department of Health on April 3, found that the hospital staff failed to demonstrate that the facility provided stabilizing treatment for Otieno’s emergency medical condition.
According to the document, one of the actions the hospital’s team will take is to “clearly communicate to law enforcement when a patient is in a mental health crisis and that the [emergency department] staff intends to continue to provide stabilizing treatment.”
The hospital will also communicate with law enforcement when a patient is removed from a facility with the following information:
- Patient’s commitment status
- Patient is actively receiving treatment
- If removing the patient would be against medical advice, and explain risks and potential harm if removed
- The team will notify entities — such as the police department, hospital administrator on call and special justice — and document the notification in the medical record
Additionally, the hospital provided education to multiple identified groups, such as emergency department staff, which was reported as complete on Dec. 10. According to the document, education was also incorporated into new hire and contract staff.
The hospital plans to sustain the improvement process by conducting an audit, which was initiated on Nov. 15, until the team achieves 90% compliance for four consecutive months with 100% remediation of deviations from the process.
On April 3, 2023, the state medical examiner’s office ruled Otieno’s death a homicide with the cause being “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints.”
Seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital personnel were charged with second-degree murder for his death.
