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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

County claims VRMC failed to call in child death case

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REGIONAL—St. Louis County officials have told the Timberjay that former Virginia Regional Medical Center staff failed to alert the county’s Social Services Department of previous injuries to two year-old Caroline Medicine-Chavez, despite requests from treating physicians to do so.

Two knowledgeable sources within St. Louis County have confirmed to the Timberjay that the hospital made no contact with Social Services following a March 3, 2012, incident, during which the two year-old was rushed by ambulance to VRMC with a head injury.

Doctors and other health care workers, as with many professionals who routinely deal with children, are required by law to report incidents of potential child abuse to social service agencies. The physician who treated Caroline on March 3 indicated in the child’s medical record that the incident should be reported. A second medical record produced by the hospital indicated that Social Services had been contacted following the March 3 incident.

But sources knowledgeable of the county’s reporting system, have told the Timberjay that the hospital staff never actually made the call. The sources declined to be identified because they are not authorized to release such information.

When asked by the Timberjay if the hospital had any record of its contact with Social Services, Essentia Health Systems spokesperson Maureen Talerico said she would look into the matter, but likely could not comment due to potential legal ramifications. Talerico never provided any documentation to the Timberjay that VRMC staff ever made the call to Social Services following the March 3 incident. Essentia purchased the former Virginia Regional Medical Center in late 2012.

Whether the hospital’s apparent failure to report the potential abuse contributed to the child’s death is unknown. But less than three weeks after her March 3 visit to the hospital’s emergency room, the child was dead of severe head trauma, suffered while in the care of Russell Johnson, who was the boyfriend of the child’s mother at the time. Johnson was also alone with Caroline at the apparent time of her March 3 injury. The hospital did make a report to Social Services as a result of her second visit to the emergency room, on March 21, 2012, but by that time it was too late to help Caroline. After the family agreed to remove life support, the child died in the early morning hours of March 22.

The child, her mother Jennifer Medicine, and Johnson were living in a Virginia apartment during the winter of 2012.

The Virginia Police Department has yet to press any charges in the death of the child, despite considerable pressure by Caroline’s family, and many others, to do so. Members of Caroline’s family say they are convinced that Johnson is responsible for the death of the child and they are increasingly frustrated by the lack of charges in the case.

An online petition, set up in late December, now has over 1,200 signatures urging St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin to release indictments against Johnson.