Grants expand services for sexual assault survivors

Nearly $600,000 in grant funding will soon allow CoxHealth to expand its services for survivors of sexual assault throughout the region.

December 11, 2019 Newsroom, Monett, Springfield
Nearly $600,000 in grant funding will soon allow CoxHealth to expand its services for survivors of sexual assault throughout the region.

Two separate grants address different service expansions and additions:
  • A $363,637 grant will add additional Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) professionals to provide Sexual Assault Forensic Exams (SAFE) to CoxHealth’s rural hospital locations. The funding will help ensure that specially trained SANE are present at CoxHealth hospitals in Springfield, Branson and Monett when patients come to the Emergency Department requesting SAFE exams.

    The grant also helps establish a Sexual Assault Response Team in five Ozarks counties, which includes law enforcement, health care providers, crime labs and other agencies to help victims navigate services available to them. Additionally, it provides an eight-hour forensic training session for 120 Emergency Department nurses at the three rural CoxHealth hospitals; helps purchase additional equipment for forensic exams; allows for the purchase of clothing and comfort items for survivors after undergoing exams; and provide two annual community education forums to discuss prevention and treatment resources available for victims in the five counties.

    This project is supported by Award No. 2019-WR-AX-0030 awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
  • A $227,202.67 grant will create a comprehensive telehealth system to improve care for victims of sexual assault in rural areas of southwest Missouri, specifically in Barton, Barry, and Lawrence counties. This expansion will provide 24/7 accessibility to a SANE for sexual assault survivors in the rural areas who would previously have been transferred to outlying facilities as far as 65 miles away.

    In addition, the grant provides telehealth equipment and staffing to implement a TeleSANE Nursing Hub at CoxHealth in Springfield; telehealth and forensic examination equipment that will enable 24/7 SANE qualified care to victims of sexual assault at Cox Barton County Hospital and Cox Monett Hospital; and comfort care items for victims at time of discharge from the hospital.

    This project is supported by Award No. ER130200031 awarded by the Missouri Department of Social Services Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crimes.
The grant funding will be available in early 2020, so services will launch as soon as possible in the new year. As a reminder, SAFE exams are available to anyone who comes to CoxHealth’s Emergency Departments, and reporting options are specific to the patient and their unique situation. Patients may choose to contact law enforcement for investigation, but it is not required.

For more information about CoxHealth’s SANE program, click here.

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