Members of several different organizations in Fort Frances celebrated the official opening of a sexual assault and patient care area at La Verendrye Hospital and with good reason.
Victims and survivors of sexual assaults in Fort Frances and the surrounding areas now have a much more private and comfortable room where dedicated and caring professionals can do what they must in the aftermath of such a traumatic event.
Before this space was made available, most of the follow-up work to a sexual assault was done in the emergency room, which anyone who has spent time in would tell you is a far cry from private or comfortable.
The new room has an examination chair, yes, but also different lighting, a music player, charging cords for a phone, as well as snacks, drinks and a change of clothes.
Its purpose is to help survivors of sexual assault feel as comfortable and as safe as possible, even as medical and legal professionals do what needs to be done.
The positives of having this space are not to be downplayed. The people who attended the opening were so excited that the space had finally come to be after years of dreaming and working towards it.
Hope was expressed that those survivors who were too afraid or uncomfortable to come into the hospital before would no longer be afraid, knowing there would be a much more private space available.
The passion for taking care of people who would someday make use of the space shone through every conversation I had at the opening, even as I’m sure each was aware of just what it meant to have a patient sit in that room.
In a perfect world, no one would want this room. It simply wouldn’t be necessary.
In our imperfect world, what a wonderful thing it is to have people who care enough to make this room a reality, and who care enough to run it, so that the people who will make use of it in the future will be taken care of to the best of their ability.
-Ken Kellar
