Medical Records Indicate Detroit-Area Hospital Knew More Than It Admits in Nurse Sexual Abuse Scandal

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14 more patients file lawsuits against serial predator; says hospital ignored red flags as former nurse repeatedly assaulted patients under his care

DETROIT, MI, January 14, 2026 (EZ Newswire) -- Newly uncovered medical records suggest Sinai-Grace Hospital may have known one of its nurses was allegedly sexually assaulting patients at its hospital long before it has publicly claimed. Although the hospital insists it first learned of the misconduct in late September 2025, attorneys have discovered a patient chart that links 47-year-old William Figueroa-Berrios to an incident with a patient more than one year earlier. The record indicates she refused his request to completely undress for an EKG procedure and she subsequently asked for a female nurse.

“This isn’t a minor discrepancy — this is more than a year-long gap between what Sinai-Grace is telling the public and what its own records show,” said Bryce Hensley, Gould Grieco & Hensley founding partner. “If staff documented concerns about this nurse in patient records, then the questions become: Why was he still treating patients? Who ignored it? Was it buried? What was done in response? Many of our clients suffered because the hospital didn’t step in when it should have and were seen after this disturbing incident.”

The revelation comes as Gould Grieco & Hensley PLLC files lawsuits on behalf of 14 additional patients against Figueroa-Berrios, Sinai-Grace Hospital, and its parent companies, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and VHS of Michigan — almost all of which took place after the date of the newly-discovered patient chart. These new plaintiffs describe a similar pattern of sexual assault under the guise of medical care that includes digital penetration, groping, harassment, and coerced and unnecessary undressing.

“This should never happen to any patient in any hospital,” said Nicholas Wainwright, Gould Grieco & Hensley attorney. “The hospital permitted these women to be isolated with this predator, whose behavior followed a similar pattern of taking advantage of women in need of medical care. It raises very serious questions about how this could happen inside a medical institution like Sinai-Grace.”

The lawsuits allege Sinai-Grace catastrophically failed in its duty to protect patients. Attorneys say the hospital was negligent from the start — hiring Figueroa-Berrios without proper screening, failing to train him on patient-safety protocols, and allowing him to treat patients with limited supervision. According to the complaint, the hospital ignored prior incidents and investigations, failed to act on information that should have raised immediate red flags, and did not enforce the basic safeguards meant to prevent sexual abuse in clinical settings. 

Chaperone policies, reporting procedures, and oversight requirements were left unenforced, creating an environment where a predator could move freely and operate undetected. These institutional failures, the lawsuits argue, didn’t just allow the abuse to happen — they enabled a pattern of assaults involving over a dozen patients.

“We believe there are far more survivors out there who were never told what happened to them or who have been too afraid to come forward,” said Jennifer Cascio, Gould Grieco & Hensley partner. “When a hospital like Sinai-Grace ignores warning signs and gives a predator access to patients, the number of survivors is rarely limited to the ones we already know about. We are deeply concerned that hundreds more may have been put at risk.”

If you or a loved one were sexually abused while under Figueroa-Berrios’ medical care during his tenure at Sinai-Grace Hospital between 2024-2025, please contact GGH.

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SOURCE: Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC

https://app.eznewswire.com/news/detroit-hospital-sexual-abuse-nurse-scandal-lawsuits