Avera’s Rural Health Department has received two grants totaling $4.5-million that will fund sexual assault forensic examination processes in rural communities.
The Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime and Office of Violence Against Women presented the grants. The OVC-presented award will fund a project that involves more than 50 sites across five Midwestern states. Telemedicine will bring the care and expertise of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) to rural areas in a program called “eSANE for Rural.”
The $500,000 SANE grant was presented to support an Avera eCARE® Emergency SANE program expansion.
Avera eCARE CEO Deanna Larson says sexual assault victims often have to travel for exams, thus adding to their trauma. By assessing patients where they are, we can offer comfort to both patients and local care teams. She says the specialty training in SANE ensures evidence is collected and handled appropriately, allowing for improved representation and greater emotional support.
With access to immediate, quality trauma-informed care that supports victims and decreases both travel and wait time, the program simultaneously enhances evidence collection to improve perpetrator conviction rates. Thirty rural hospitals will have 24/7 access to Avera’s SANEs as well local law enforcement and others involved in seeking justice for victims during the program.
Avera will partner with the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault to provide victim advocacy services and law enforcement coordination in support of program activity.
