Tanner News

Tanner Health is working with community partners to help residents in the aftermath of a sexual assault.

The healthcare organization is working with the West Georgia Prevention and Advocacy Resource Center (PARC) to establish a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton.

The program will prepare participating nurses with special training to help people who have experienced a sexual assault.

PARC has used funds from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) to provide a special cart with supplies enabling qualified Tanner nurses to perform forensic medical exams, ensuring the proper collection of evidence while helping people work through the trauma of their experience. The cart will be maintained in the emergency department at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton.

“PARC is grateful for the support of Tanner Chief Nursing Officer Michelle Hoehn, RN, and Donny Hightower, RN, vice president of emergency services” said Rob Dial, executive director of PARC. “We also appreciate the support of Brooke Cornell, RN, whose leadership got this project off the ground.”

The program is expected to be fully up and running next year, with up to 10 certified SANE staff serving the region.

“Showing compassion and sensitivity to the people who turn to us for care is paramount,” said Hightower. “Ideally, these are supplies and training we’d never need, but that’s not the reality of our situation. At least through our relationship with PARC, we’ll have the staff and specialized supplies we need to help our patients and our law enforcement partners.”

More on PARC’s work in advocacy and prevention — as well as resources for those in need — is at wgaparc.org.