Florida Hospital Staff Resign & Foster Parent Under Investigation for Unethical Behavior With Abandoned Newborn

“A baby born at Jackson South Community Hospital was at the center of an internal investigation into a breach of patient privacy and hospital policy – and two hospital administrators no longer work there as a result, sources said.

According to sources, the child was born on Oct. 4 and abandoned by its mother. A couple of days later the newborn was taken from the second-floor nursery to the first floor.

The hospital security band was taken off the baby, and a family looking to adopt was directly contacted by one of the employees and went to the hospital to see the baby, the sources told NBC 6 South Florida.

An investigation was launched quickly, Jackson Health System spokesman Ed O’Dell said.

“Once we learned that there was a possibility of hospital policy being violated, we immediately began an investigation and as a result of that investigation we did determine that hospital policy was probably violated, and as such two people were terminated,” he said of the employees, who technically were allowed to resign.

Privacy drove the investigation, O’Dell said.

“There was an error when it came to hospital policy related to privacy,” he said.

The Department of Children and Families said it is involved with the child in the case.

“A call was made to the DCF hotline when the child was born,” agency spokeswoman Lissette Valdes-Valle said in a statement. “An investigator went out there. The child stayed at the hospital over the weekend for medical attention. We learned what happened after the child was safe in DCF care.”

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration also said it is looking into the incident. A “complaint inspection” concluded Nov. 8, and the results of that investigation are now under review, according to spokeswoman Shelisha Coleman.

No patients were harmed because of the incident, Jackson President and CEO Carlos Migoya said in a memo to the Public Health Trust Financial Recovery Board on Tuesday.

He said that “many of the front-line employees at Jackson South took the appropriate actions to try preventing and recovering from this violation.”

“Safe Haven For Newborns was not involved in this case, but the organization’s founder is knowledgeable about hospital policies regarding adoption.

“That’s a bad thing, because basically that child, they broke the confidentiality of that, they broke the security of that,” Nick Silverio said about the case. “They had no business being there in that light. If they wanted to adopt the child and they went through the process for that, the protocol was broken.”

Two Jackson South Administrators Lose Jobs After Investigation: Sources

[NBC Miami 12/11/12 by Diana Gonzalez]

“Two hospital administrators, the chief nursing officer and the director of obstetrics, are no longer working there as a result.

The child, born on Oct. 4, was given up by its mother. A couple of days later it was taken from the second-floor nursery to the first floor, after one employee directly contacted a family looking to adopt, sources said.

“We are in the process of investigating the actions of the foster parent,” Esther Jacobo, DCF’s Southern Region managing director, said of the man who went to see the baby. “We are weighing all of the options available to us including but not limited to review of his foster care license. “

Jackson Health System spokesman Ed O’Dell said earlier this week that an internal investigation was launched quickly.

“Once we learned that there was a possibility of hospital policy being violated, we immediately began an investigation and as a result of that investigation we did determine that hospital policy was probably violated, and as such two people were terminated,” he said of the employees, who technically were allowed to resign.”

Foster Parent at Center of Jackson South Investigation: Department of Children and Families

[NBC Miami 12/13/12 by Diana Gonzalez]

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