Nurse who dropped newborn won’t lose her job

Last week, Channel 11 News was the first to report that a nurse at Uniontown Hospital dropped baby Eli -- and now the hospital is speaking out.

Hospital officials told Lewis on Monday that the nurse was burping Eli when he fell about three feet.

“She was, to our understanding, burping the infant and had the child in a seated position and was burping the baby. And in some manner, the baby slipped from her hands,” said Josh Krysak, Coordinator of Community Relations at Uniontown Hospital.

Officials said they’ve concluded its internal investigation and found the incident was an accident. The nurse, who has 32 years of experience, will not be terminated. She will, however, be disciplined.

“The nurse will not be terminated, but we will follow internal protocols on what type of disciplinary action she will face,” Krysak said.

The hospital didn’t say how she would be disciplined but did say she remains off-duty.

“She is very devastated. No one feels worse about it than the family involved than her,” Krysak said.

Hunt said she wasn’t told about Eli’s injury until an hour later. She wants to know what caused the delay.

“Based on discussion, they immediately went in and made sure the baby was OK and stable, so people were busy with that,” Krysak said.

Hospital officials said there were no cameras inside the nursery, so what happened in the moments leading up to and after the incident may never be known.

The police investigation continues as does the State Department of Health investigation.