Health department to investigate incident: Delorey

Woman’s experience with ER after reporting she was raped will be assessed

Nova Scotia Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey says efforts are under way to determine how the health system failed a rape victim who was not offered medical services when she presented at the Truro hospital.

“So we’re working with the Nova Scotia Health Authority to dig in, to understand exactly what transpired there, to evaluate whether that’s a one-off situation or something that’s reflective, that needs to be addressed in a broader context,” Delorey said, during a recent stop in Truro.

“But the first step is, we need to gather the information and the details around the specific reported experience, take that information, learn from it to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Truro News and the Chronicle Herald reported a story this week about a 22-year-old woman who said she was not offered access to either a doctor or a nurse after arriving at the emergency department of the Colchester East Hants Health Centre to re- port she had been raped.

“I just felt so lost,” the woman previously told the Truro News of her experience. “It just felt like I wasn’t their problem to deal with.”

After being processed through triage, the woman said she was given a couple of pieces of reading material and sent back out into the busy waiting area until being summoned back to speak briefly by phone with a nurse from the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program at another hospital. She said she was then told she would have to go to either Halifax or Antigonish if she wanted to be examined because there is no SANE program available in the Truro area.

“‘We don’t have that program here.’ Like, ‘ here’s this,’” she said, of being handed two small pamphlets on the subject of sexual trauma. “‘Just go and handle it yourself.’”

The woman, a 22- year- old Truro resident who does not wish to be identified, was speaking of a recent visit she made to the Emergency Department of the Colchester Regional Health Cen- tre to report she had been raped.

“When I hung up the phone I was like, what do I do now? Do I call the police or … ?” the woman said, of her experience.

Although visibly upset, the woman said she was never offered a quiet place to collect herself nor offered an opportunity to speak with either a doctor or a nurse.

So, she left the hospital shortly after midnight and walked off into the dark alone.

Delorey said that is not the way the woman should have been received and his department is looking into the matter.

“Certainly that’s a situation that’s been reported that I think all Nova Scotians would agree is unacceptable. We’d expect when any individual shows up to receive treatment they do receive the appropriate care in our hospitals,” he said.

“So we’re working with the Nova Scotia Health Authority to dig in, to understand exactly what transpired there, to evaluate whether that’s a one-off situation or something that’s reflective that needs to be addressed in a broader context. But the first step is, we need to gather the information and the details around the specific reported experience, take that information, learn from it to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The woman ultimately was driven to Antigonish by her mother where she was examined through the SANE program there.

But it was not until later they learned the program is also offered at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow.

Kendra Mackinnon is executive director of the Colchester Sexual Assault Centre (CSAC) in Trur. She described the lack of access to SANE services for victims who present to the Colchester East Hants Health Centre ER requesting a forensic examination (rape kit) as an unfortunate “gap” in the system.

“This lack of localized service puts an unnecessary burden on individuals who are in the midst of crisis,” she said, in an emailed response. “It’s incredibly unfortunate that this survivor experienced a lack of trauma-informed care and support following a very traumatic act of sexualized violence.”

Mackinnon said the Colchester Sexual Assault Response Committee (CSARC) “has been working on establishing this essential health service for this under-served region” but so far this community has not been included in the province’s expansion of the SANE program.

Asked whether this situation would prompt expansion of the program to this region, Delorey said he is awaiting results of the investigation.

“I’ve got to see the details of specifically where the gaps were, and we’ll take into consideration what we need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Get the information, see where gaps are and take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

“And not just in this community but, really, across the province. We don’t want to see a situation like that transpiring.”

Asked if he would be prepared to meet with the woman and her mother to discuss the experience, Delorey said, “We would certainly take that request very seriously” if the individuals were to reach out to either him or his department.