Sinai-Grace Nurse Arraigned On CSC With Patients

Nurses committing criminal sexual conduct with patients is uncommon, but another issue health care managers must be aware of.  When it does happen, the resulting civil lawsuits can be devastating to health care institutions:

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/10/michigan-hospital-enabled-sexual-predator-nurse-lawsuit-claims.html

Michigan hospital enabled ‘sexual predator’ nurse, lawsuit claims
By Justin P. Hicks | October 8, 2025

A former Detroit nurse has been accused of sexually abusing and assaulting numerous patients while working at Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios, 47, was arrested on multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third and fourth degree in Wayne County. He’s also named in a pair of recent civil lawsuits, which accuse the Sinai-Grace of negligence in its hiring and continuing to employ the “known sexual predator.”

He was arraigned on the latest criminal sexual conduct charges Oct. 4. and remained in jail as of Wednesday afternoon, according to court records. Attempts by MLive to contact his attorney were not immediately successful.

Attorneys representing the women who have accused Figueroa-Berrios said there are at least seven survivors who have come forward to law enforcement as of Wednesday, Oct. 8, including five from his previous employment by Trinity Health in Livonia. MLive wasn’t able to reach a Trinity spokesperson for comment.

Attorneys for the survivors anticipate “countless” more coming forward.

“Somebody who is depraved enough to commit sexual violence on patients, doesn’t wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, today’s a good day to start, right?,’” said Jim Harrington, one of the attorneys for the women.

“This is something that develops over time, that supervisors and administrators who do their job would see this. It was there before they even let this man into that building with the body of previous complaints (against him).”

Sinai-Grace and its parent company, Tenet Healthcare, have been served with at least one related lawsuit. Others are expected to be filed in the coming days, according to attorneys Harrington and Todd Flood.

In a statement, Sinai-Grace said it has a rigorous process in place to screen applicants prior to employment. That process didn’t identify a concern regarding Figueroa-Berrios.

“Upon becoming aware of these allegations, Sinai-Grace proactively initiated contact with and notified law enforcement and suspended the employee, who has since been terminated,” the statement said. “We do not condone any type of abuse and are cooperating fully with law enforcement.”

But Harrington said efforts by the hospital to contact Figueroa-Berrios’ prior employer or to assess his social media pages would have turned up concerning history.

Harrington and Flood said the hospital enabled the nurse’s alleged predatory behavior and retaliated against victims who spoke out against him. They said a future lawsuit will be filed on behalf of one such whistleblower.

In the latest lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Oct. 7, a 49-year-old woman with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) alleged the nurse touched her genitals under the false guise of adjusting her catheter in August 2024. The complaint said she didn’t have a urinary catheter at the time of the unconsented and offensive touching.

The lawsuit said Sinai-Grace Hospital was aware of -- or reasonably should have known about -- Figueroa-Berrios’s history of predatory behavior, including a 2019 assault arrest and sexual misconduct complaints that led to his firing from another hospital previously.

A second lawsuit alleges the nurse made lewd and inappropriate sexual comments toward a female patient who was intoxicated and taken to Sinai-Grace for medical intervention this August. He proceeded to grope her breast and body over her hospital gown, expose his genitals, and coerced her to perform oral sex on him.

Throughout the one night stay, the lawsuit claimed he “exploited the patient’s intoxication and vulnerability” to coerce her into performing oral sex at least four times.

No medical or nursing notes were documented in her medical records over a 12-hour span that night prior to her being discharged the next morning.

Upon being re-admitted for medical care a few days later, the patient reported the sexual assaults to two head nurses. She said she was denied access to a social worker or patient advocate to assist or support her, and was met with hostility from Sinai-Grace staff before being discharged.

Police investigating a rape claim reviewed surveillance footage and confirmed Figueroa-Berrios repeatedly entered her hospital room through the night, remaining each time for several minutes.

He was arrested Aug. 27 and charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct. During his arraignment, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Grace Broughton said her office had at least four more pending cases against him.

Figueroa-Berrios was arraigned on two more criminal sexual conduct charges Sept. 4 related to a May 4 incident. Prosecutors said he forced his way into a porta-john and sexually assaulted a 41-year-old woman outside Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit. The two knew each other but were not involved in a relationship.

The former nurse obtained his nursing license in 2012. His license remained active as of Wednesday, according to state records.

Survivors are encouraged to contact Detroit police, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Fieger Law, or Flood Law to share their story.

Sinai-Grace Hospital was awarded a failing grade for patient safety during the nonprofit watchdog Leapfrog Group’s fall 2024 assessment period. The hospital was given a below-average score for a variety of safety problems based on data it reported to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Similarly, an assessment by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) noted “less than substantial compliance” to the state’s Mental Health Code by Sinai-Grace. The hospital got a score of 149 points out of 346.