St. Peter’s Health Partners supports victims of crime through specialized provider training
Offering compassionate, trauma-informed care to victims of crime is critical to reducing chances of retraumatization and protecting their mental and emotional health. Recognizing that caring for those most at risk is paramount, St. Peter’s Health Partners established St. Peter’s Crime Victim Services, which offers a comprehensive array of services for patients who have experienced violence and crime. The program also trains providers across the state on how to administer specialized forensic medical care.
Each of St. Peter’s acute care hospitals in the Capital Region offers forensic medical services to survivors of violence — including sexual assault, intimate partner/domestic violence and physical assault — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. SPCVS also provides counseling and therapy, crisis intervention and safety planning.
SPCVS operates a statewide Forensic Examiner Training Program to ensure survivors of violence across New York receive similarly compassionate and supportive care close to home. These no-cost Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) trainings, approved by DOH and the International Association of Forensic Nurses, are open to New York state-licensed registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and physicians. These courses prepare participants to offer specialized forensic medical care to adults, adolescents and the pediatric population.
In the past five years, the program has provided:
- 534 students with no-cost training;
- 42 training cohorts; and
- training to students from 56 hospitals, health systems and/or community programs.
For more information on the program or about upcoming training opportunities, please contact forensictraining@sphp.com.
