MANSFIELD – Victims of crime now have a dedicated safe space within OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital thanks to the expansion of the hospital’s Forensics Department.
OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital was recently awarded $112,000 by the Office of the Ohio Attorney General to expand the hospital Forensics Department, which provides 24/7 services for victims of sexual assault. The expansion comes on the heels of OhioHealth Mansfield’s expansion of the Emergency Department.
“Often the Emergency Department becomes the spot where people come when they’re in need, no matter what the need is,” said OhioHealth Mansfield President Jean Halpin. “As they go through the process there’s a lot of interviews, and when physical or sexual abuse is identified it then has to elevate to another process.”
Halpin explained the new expanded Forensics Department will act as the liaison point between the medical and law enforcement processes in a sexual assault case. Instead of a patient being transported between the hospital and the police department or children’s services, everything will happen in the new expansion space.
“By not having the patient have to move, this allows them to stay in one spot and allows us to get critical information at the time it happens and it really helps in the prosecution of the perpetrator,” Halpin explained. “It really allows us to take that time with the families.”
The new expansion includes exam rooms, interview rooms, a conference room, clothing room and work area for community partners such as local law enforcement, Richland County Children Services and the Domestic Violence Shelter.
Funds for the project come from the Ohio Attorney General’s Crime Victims Assistance Grant, which receives federal funds from the Victims of Crime Act formula grant program. Halpin noted OhioHealth is also donating the rooms for $1 per year to the community partners.
One crucial community partner in the Forensics Department is Patricia Harrelson, executive director of Richland County Children’s Services. Harrelson had the vision for the expanded department more than a year ago, to help the most fragile individuals in a time when they need the community to rally behind them.
According to Harrelson, the three interview rooms in the new Forensics Department will be equipped with audio and video recording systems by the end of the month. These recordings will allow authorities to utilize recordings of abused children in the context of the process that may allow for the prosecution of offenders without requiring that children actually testify.
“Law enforcement will be able to see and hear what the kid said and be able to take their cues and talk to the alleged perpetrator based on what the child said,” Harrelson explained. “Sometimes they’re not there and they don’t get a feel for how the child responded to what happened, so the audio and video will be very helpful and take some of the pressure off the prosecutor’s office.”
The interview rooms can also be used in other circumstances, such as providing a space to interview and record domestic violence victims while still at the hospital.
“Our big vision is it’s not just us,” Harrelson said. “Our big vision is the whole community can begin to rally around these kids and families and use it to help families and help the criminal prosecution of cases.”
