Employees say a program that serves LGBTQI+ survivors of sexual assault is failing staff and patients. | j_bambergwrites
examining state payment practices have found that many survivors are still charged by hospitals erroneously.
While the results of MFEs are often used as evidence to build a stronger case in court against an aggressor, some survivors who ask for the exam do so without that in mind. “For some people [the MFE] can be validating or part of a healing process to make sure that their bodies are healthy and safe. For a lot of people it can help them move forward,” Gelbort says. Survivors are not required to report their assault to the police, though they have that option.
As a certified sexual assault nurse examiner in the clinic’s In Power Program, Gelbort was able to conduct medical forensic exams without a doctor or physician present, although best practices state that a dedicated provider should be available immediately during an MFE should a need arise outside of a SANE’s scope of practice as a nurse. Gelbort says they had been asking HBH to hire someone for that position for months.
The next day, Gelbort was filling out paperwork in their shared office when their phone rang. It was the director of nursing calling to tell them that they needed to pack up their stuff and vacate the premises immediately. Their shifts were canceled until further notice. Gelbort was allowed to finish their paperwork, then grabbed their things and left.
According to Katie Luedecke, who worked as a registered nurse at HBH from 2015 to 2020 and helped start the In Power program, while HBH claims to center community care, “they are always going to put their own financial needs ahead of that.” This shift in priorities, according to Luedecke, is occurring because of the way the clinic relies on funding from. Nurses are not billable for their time, but providers are, she says.
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