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Baystate Health responds to arrest of family medicine doctor

At Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Mass., one support person is allowed to attend a birth as long as they do not leave the patient's room before discharge.
Paul Franz
/
Daily Hampshire Gazette / gazettenet.com

The head of Baystate Health has issued a public statement following the arrest last week of one of its family medicine doctors.

Rachael Rollins, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, charged Bradford Ferrick, a family medicine resident, with possessing child pornography and using a hidden camera to film patients.

CEO Mark Keroack published a letter online that said the hospital placed the doctor on unpaid leave once they learned he was being investigated by the FBI.

Hospital spokesperson Keith O’Connor said that happened on Feb. 15, and that the hospital only learned the extent of the charges more recently.

Legal documents show the FBI became suspicious Ferrick was involved in child pornography about a year earlier, before he came to Baystate.

“While our primary goal is always to support the health and well-being of our community, in this instance it is vital that we do so in a way that maintains the integrity of the legal process,” O’Connor said in an email. To that end, he said, people with concerns about the case should contact the U.S. Attorney's Office by email (christina.sterline@usdoj.gov) or at the hotline number, 617-748-3274.

O’Connor said the office will then direct people to support services. In addition, he said, Baystate staff has access to counseling through the company’s employee assistance program.

Without addressing Ferrick’s background directly, Keroack said in his letter that “every provider undergoes extensive vetting, including reference and background checks, local and national criminal review, verification of education and training, and confirmation of credentials. We are nonetheless reexamining those policies to ensure they reflect best practices. We also are reviewing policies related to recording images during clinical encounters.”

Keroack said that guardians are already present during child medical exams.

Karen Brown is a radio and print journalist who focuses on health care, mental health, children’s issues, and other topics about the human condition. She has been a full-time radio reporter for NEPM since 1998.
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