Sex assault centre to monitor hospital services
Niagara Sexual Assault Centre plans to keep a watchful eye on St. Catharines hospital to ensure victims have local access to the treatment they deserve.
Cheri Huys, co-ordinator of the centre’s hospital response team, said she’s happy Niagara Health System has taken action and committed to reinstating 24-hour service for sexual assault victims at the hospital beginning today.
However, she does plan to continue monitoring the program, which she says has long been plagued with uncovered shifts.
Huys spoke out publicly after receiving notice the service would be unavailable in Niagara for a twoweek period beginning Aug. 8.
Instead, sexual assault victims coming to the hospital for assistance would be medically cleared and then given the option to take a taxi, paid for by the NHS, to Hamilton or Burlington for forensic evidence to be collected.
During the gap in service, Huys is aware of two people who reached out for help — one who opted for the ride out of town and another who declined.
The centre has had concerns about the program’s staffing for some time and after receiving a handful of notices earlier this summer about uncovered shifts, a letter was sent mid-July asking the NHS to address the problem.
Huys, who wrote the letter, said she was responded to the next day and assured the issue would be resolved.
But again in August the notices began arriving for uncovered shifts, which prompted her to take action and go public with her concerns.
“We’re doing this in support of SADV (sexual assault domestic violence treatment centre). We don’t want to make trouble,” Huys said. “We want to support this team in any way that we can. This has been an ongoing issue. We want to see that change.”
It was an unanticipated staff leave that resulted in the most recent service gap, the NHS said earlier this week.
Despite the difficulties encountered, Huys remains hopeful the NHS will get staffing back on track.
“They’ve said they’re going to have coverage starting on Saturday. We will definitely be confirming that.”
Request for further comment on the issue from the NHS was responded to with an e-mailed statement.
“Our focus is on ensuring our patients and their families receive high-quality care close to home,” Jill Randall, director of patient care, emergency and cardiac, said in the e-mail. “We are sorry for the concern created by this temporary measure, which was the result of unexpected staffing pressures.”
Randall reaffirmed that implementation of an interim staffing coverage plan for the program will begin Saturday.
“As we move forward, we are committed to having a permanent staffing model in place by September so all of our patients in need can receive this specialized service. Our priority is ensuring all patients receive the care they deserve.”
The Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant local health integration network will also be monitoring the sexual assault and domestic violence program, as it has done in the past, said Steve Isaak, director of health system transformation.
It has been about six years since the LHIN took on accountability for the program.
“We do meet with all of our hospitals on a quarterly basis and we review all kinds of performancerelated issues, looking at volumes, looking at other aspects,” he said. “This line item related to the dedicated funding for this program is included so when we meet with them … we review their statistics, their performance, how things are going and they identify for us if there’s any variation in what’s expected through the accountability agreement.”
Isaak noted there have not been any issues raised in past meetings.
With the recent concerns raised, the program will be a topic of discussion during the next meeting this fall, he said.
“We will make sure we are looking very carefully at how the hospital is responding.”
As for program funding being appropriately used, which was also questioned by the centre, Isaak said there are dollars specifically dedicated to the service that cannot be used elsewhere.
It was the Ministry of Health that set the program’s budget “quite a long time ago,” he said, adding that amount provided from the province has not changed over the years.
The NHS, however, has of its own accord invested additional dollars, he said.
When the program was created, its funding was built into the hospital’s base budget.
Despite that structure, the dedicated funds cannot be used for any other program, Isaak stressed.
“There’s an agreement that would have been signed originally between the hospital and the ministry to that effect.”
Isaak said that while the NHS has the ability to reduce or increase the program’s budget, the LHIN “would want to ensure any changes in funding are brought to our attention.”
Ministry of Health spokesman David Jensen said the province recognizes the importance of timely access to appropriate treatment and care for Ontarians who have experience sexual assault, harassment and domestic violence.
As such, Premier Kathleen Wynne made a commitment in 2015 to strengthen supports provided by treatments centres and maintain 24/7 service.
Jensen said the ministry is aware of the “unanticipated staffing issue” at the St. Catharines hospital and of the intention to have services reinstated Saturday.
The ministry is not aware of any other centres that are currently experiencing a staffing shortage.
“However, we recognize that due to the high level of training needed for these positions and the sensitive nature of the care being provided, hospitals may at times, experience challenges recruiting and maintaining staff,” Jensen said.
The ministry will be working with the LHINs and the treatment centres to review the program model in an effort to identify areas for improvement.