Decades after patients warned Columbia University that one of its doctors had sexually abused them, some university administrators finally faced consequences.
On Tuesday, Columbia released a long awaited report which details a culture of silence that allowed OB-GYN Robert Hadden to abuse more than 1,000 patients during his nearly 25-year career at Columbia.
By unveiling the report, the the university also announced that two long-time directors are leaving their positions.
Dr. Mary D’Alton, chair of the OB-GYN department and Hadden’s former boss, has resigned. D’Alton will maintain his clinical practice.
Dr. Lee Goldman, former dean of the School of Medicine, will retire. Both were directors above Hadden. They were also among those copied on a letter from 2012 this allowed Hadden to continue seeing patients even after his arrest when a woman reported he had assaulted her.
Yesterday’s report was prompted by a ProPublica investigation that revealed how Columbia fired women and ultimately protected a predator. Amid outrage over the 2023 story, Columbia announced it would create a $100 million fund for survivors and launch of independent review.
More than two years after the review was announced, the 156-page report was released days after the New York’s attorney general says he’s investigating Columbia’s response to the Hadden affair.
The report highlights that more than a dozen patient complaints went nowhere, in part because of a lack of clear reporting procedures. The report also reveals a “hierarchical institutional culture” in which doctors occupy an “exalted” or “divine” status, making it difficult for staff to report concerns.
One patient, Eva Santos Veloz, was 18 when she saw Hadden for an emergency delivery in 2008. At the time, she and her mother reported that Hadden touched her in a way that made her uncomfortable, sometimes without gloves. Nothing happened after the complaint was filed. At the time, she said, she came to believe she was making it all up because no one seemed to believe her.
Santos said that while the report confirms she was right all along, it doesn’t tell her anything new. “The only peace this gives me is that they are publicly saying, ‘We knew about it and we didn’t do anything,'” she said.
The report also lists five different complaints that were reported to leadership but resulted in no action against Hadden. Investigators note that the university’s record-keeping practices were inadequate and that superiors failed to fully investigate his misconduct.
In an internal email sent Tuesday to the OB-GYN department and obtained by ProPublica, D’Alton announced that she would remain on the faculty “to continue our department’s work to advance women’s health.”
“I cannot adequately express the sorrow I feel for the suffering Robert Hadden inflicted on his patients,” D’Alton wrote in the email. “The fact that these acts were committed by a doctor in our service, including while I was president, pains me deeply and will always hurt me.”
A similar statement posted on Columbia’s website makes no mention of his continued employment.
D’Alton did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Goldman said his “heart breaks for the victims of Robert Hadden.”
He continued, “Throughout my tenure, we have focused on prioritizing a culture of ethics and patient safety at the medical school, as well as reevaluating and continually improving its policies and procedures. »
The report also confirms that leaders at the top of the organizations – including former Columbia President Lee Bollinger, as well as one of the directors of Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Columbia-affiliated system where Hadden was an attending physician – were alerted to Hadden’s arrest the same evening as his arrest.
Bollinger, who retired from his position in the summer of 2023, did not respond to a request for comment.
A letter accompanying the report’s release said: “The University remains steadfast in its commitment to its ongoing responsibilities. We must continue to operate with transparency and address systemic failures when they occur.” Columbia did not provide additional comment.
In a statementa group of survivors, including Marissa Hoechstetter and Evelyn Yang, criticized the report for failing to examine what happened in the years after Hadden left Columbia — including the university. documented efforts to destroy evidencefight former patients in court and discredit these survivors.
The statement also notes that Claire Shipman, the current interim president of the university and who signed Tuesday’s announcement, has been on the board of directors since 2013, amid the fallout from the Hadden affair. She did not respond to a request for comment.
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“What Columbia released today provides the bare minimum of accountability for the failures that
“This should have been resolved years ago,” the survivors’ statement said. “It confirms the breakdown of the system that allowed Hadden to operate. But it does not go so far as to examine the culture of cover-up that survivors experienced once the abuse came to light.”
The deadline for submitting a claim for compensation to survivor fundwhich was instituted for former patients who do not wish to file a lawsuit, has been extended until June 15.
