Center of Hope

Compassionate care in times of violence

Survivors of violent crime need providers who can support them through any physical injuries suffered as well as the psychological and emotional trauma inflicted. It’s a blend of care that requires specialized training to ensure patients get the proper help.

Reid Health’s Center of Hope is working to meet that need.

The program began in 2015 with the training of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) who can provide comprehensive care to survivors, including the collection of items and specimens that could be used as evidence.

In the time since, the program has expanded to provide services to those who have experienced:

• Child abuse
• Domestic violence
• Elder abuse
• Human trafficking
• Sexual assault
• Strangulation

With the Center of Hope, you’re in control

The worst part of sexual assault is the loss of control. Our team is dedicated to providing survivors with choices in their care, meeting them where they are and seeing them as a unique person as well as finding out what their worries/priority of needs are.

It's important to remember:

• You have the right to receive treatment with dignity and respect.
• You have the right to decide whether to have a sexual assault kit collected. It’s entirely your choice, and nobody can overrule that choice.
• You have the right to keep your visit confidential. You decide if you want to report it to law enforcement. Your visit won’t be shared with law enforcement without your written consent.
  • Adolescents younger than 18 require mandatory reporting to law enforcement and DCS, but they have the right to choose to participate with law enforcement and have the right to choose if they want a sexual assault kit collected, regardless of parental consent.
• You have the right to be seen and receive treatment for a sexual assault regardless of whether you choose to have a sexual assault kit collected.
• You have the right to have an anonymous sexual assault kit collected. We understand after a traumatic event it might be difficult for you to report it to the police at that time because of safety concerns, embarrassment, or other reasons, and we want you to know we can collect a kit anonymously. There is no judgement. Your health and safety are our top concerns.
• You have the right to have any treatment, collections, and tests fully explained to you in a language you can understand.
• If you choose to have a sexual assault kit collected, there are specific timing guidelines. These range from 24-120 hours after the assault has occurred depending on the type of assault. If possible, please don’t change clothes or shower before coming in to be seen.
• Anonymous kit collections are assigned a number by the hospital with no patient information on them when given to law enforcement. This enables the kit to be secured by law enforcement without your identity being made known.
• These kits are held in a secured area for at least one year.
• These kits won’t be sent to the crime lab to be processed unless the crime is reported to law enforcement.
• If you’ve had an anonymous kit collected and later choose to report the crime to law enforcement, you’ll need to inform them you’ve had a kit collected at Reid Health and the date of that visit (or a close approximate date). With your consent, they’ll be able to contact the hospital, and we can look up the assigned number of your kit. 

Raising awareness about Center of Hope

We’ve partnered with several organizations to help raise awareness of violent crime and bring needed trainings to our area. Some of those include:

• A Better Way patient advocacy center
• Academy of Forensic Nursing (AFN)
• Emergency Nurse Association (ENA)
• Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV)
• Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking (ICESAHT)
• Indiana SANE Training Project
• International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)
• IU Health
• JACY House children's advocacy center
• Local colleges
• Local law enforcement