Hospital That Treated Baby Cut From Womb Investigated

Hospital That Treated Baby Cut From Womb Investigated
(L-R): Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa Figueroa, and Piotr Bobak. (Chicago Police Department)

CHICAGO—The agency that licenses and inspects health care facilities in Illinois has started an investigation of a suburban Chicago hospital where doctors treated a baby brought in by a woman claiming to be his mother, a spokeswoman for the agency said on May 21.

The woman was charged weeks later with killing the actual mother and cutting the child from her womb.

Clarisa Figueroa, who is charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother
Clarisa Figueroa, who is charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, on May 16, 2019. (Chicago Police Department via AP)

Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold’s comments about the investigation mark the first time that a state agency has confirmed it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the treatment of the baby.

The infant was brought to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn on April 23 by Clarisa Figueroa.

Arnold would not comment further on the investigation or say when it would be completed other than to say typically the department’s investigations take a few days.

missing pregnant woman's baby found
Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.(Chicago Police Department)

But last week, she told The Associated Press that if the department determines rules or regulations were violated, a facility would be required to correct the problem. And she said that the ultimate penalty for a facility would be the revocation of its license.

The hospital’s handling the case has raised questions, particularly since the Chicago Police Department and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services both said last weekend that staff at the hospital did not alert them after determining that Figueroa had not just given birth to the gravely ill newborn.

The family of the slain mother, 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, has been critical of the hospital and a representative of the family said they met on Monday with hospital staff to ask that they be provided copies of protocols it follows when it receives a baby who was born at home.

Cecilia Garcia said on Tuesday that the hospital had not yet provided that information but the family hoped that it would during a second meeting that has yet to be scheduled.

Arnulfo Ochoa, the father of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez,
Arnulfo Ochoa, the father of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, is surrounded by family members and supporters, as he walks into the Cook County medical examiner’s office to identify his daughter’s body in Chicago on May 16, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The hospital has declined to say whether or when it contacted authorities when it learned that Figueroa was not the baby’s mother, citing state and federal regulations.

Arnold’s comments come a day after the Cook County Sheriff’s Department said it would ask the state’s Department of Children and Family Services if the hospital violated the state’s Abuse and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

The sheriff’s department says if DCFS determines that such a failure would constitute a violation of the act, it would conduct its own investigation.

Figueroa and her daughter, Desiree Figueroa, remain in jail after being arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. The mother’s boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, was charged with concealing a homicide.

The child remains hospitalized in grave condition.

Yovany Lopez holds his son
Yovany Lopez holds his son. (Courtesy of Cecila Garcia via CNN)

By Don Babwin