Hawaii army hospital is notifying former patients of gynecologist accused of secretly filming women
An Army hospital in Hawaii said Friday it will begin notifying former patients of a gynecologist who is under criminal investigation for allegedly filming women during examinations.
The gynecologist, Dr. Blaine McGraw, worked at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii from June 2019 to June 2023, the hospital said. He had recently been practicing at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.
The announcement from Tripler that it plans to reach out to McGraw’s former patients comes five weeks after Fort Hood officials suspended McGraw and a criminal probe was launched.
The first batch of letters are expected to go out sometime Friday, according to a source familiar with the matter. The number of patients has not been finalized, but it could be more than 1,500, the source said.
It’s not yet known how many, if any, are victims of the crimes being investigated.
“I am writing to inform you of an investigation involving a previous healthcare provider in training that served in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Service at Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) from June 2019 to June 2023,” opens the letter signed by the hospital’s commander, Col. William Bimson, according to a copy obtained by NBC News. “We understand this news may be concerning, and we want to assure you that your safety, privacy, and trust remain our highest priorities.”
The letter goes on to explain how to contact Army investigators and reach out to Tripler for support.
In a news release, Tripler said the former patients will be provided with resources to “learn about the investigation, file concerns, get answers to questions, and arrange medical care and other support.”
Daniel Conway, an attorney for McGraw, criticized the way the investigation is being conducted, saying in a statement that he’s concerned “law enforcement” is “blindly sending out thousands of letters — even in cases previously resolved.”
Conway added: “The manner in which CID is conducting this investigation is a recipe for misinformation, sensationalized reporting, and an unfair process for Dr. McGraw.”
McGraw is the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by one of his former patients at Fort Hood accusing him of recording intimate videos of her without her knowledge. The woman, who is married to an active-duty service member with more than 20 years in uniform, filed the lawsuit under the name Jane Doe to protect her identity.
The lawsuit alleges that there are scores of additional victims of McGraw’s misconduct and accuses Army leadership of allowing him to continue practicing despite complaints about him that dated back years. It also accuses McGraw of inappropriate touching, crude remarks and performing unnecessary medical procedures on multiple patients.
Col. Mark Jacques, the commander of Darnall Army Medical Center, told NBC News earlier this month that he had sent letters to more than 1,400 of McGraw’s patients informing them of the investigation.
As many as 85 patients have reached out to the Army Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, he said, although it’s not clear if all of them were victims of misconduct. NBC News has previously reported that at least 30 women have been identified by Army investigators as having been photographed or videotaped by the gynecologist, according to a patient who was told of that number by investigators and two Army officials.
Jacques, who became commander of the Darnall Army Medical Center in June, said he was not aware of any prior complaints or concerns.
“I’m devastated that these patients and their families have to endure this and have to go through this,” he said.
NBC News has previously interviewed two women, including the Jane Doe who filed the lawsuit, who said they were interviewed by Army CID about McGraw. They said investigators showed them images they had found on McGraw’s phone showing the women during breast and pelvic examinations.
A third woman, a patient of McGraw’s in Hawaii, said in an interview Friday that she broke down when she found out he was under investigation for allegedly filming women under his care.
The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she noticed that McGraw had his cellphone in his breast pocket, with the camera facing outward, at every one of her appointments between 2021 and 2023.
“I started crying,” said the woman, who now suspects that she is one of the victims. “It hit me like a ton of bricks.”
The woman said she also had an unsettling encounter with McGraw in the months after she gave birth in May 2023.
She went to the hospital to pick up her birth control prescription, but was told her doctor had already gotten it. When she went to his office, the woman said, he brought her into a room and told her that “if things were different, he would leave his wife for me.”
The woman said she told him she was happily married and left his office.
She said her husband was waiting in the car to pick her up and she immediately told him what happened. Her husband urged her to report McGraw, but she said she and her family were about to leave Hawaii for another state and she wanted to forget it ever happened.
“Looking back, it’s like shoulda, coulda, woulda,” she said.
