St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital opens sexual assault nurse examiner program

Cornwall — St. Luke’s Cornwall Auxiliary has partnered with the Orange County District Attorney’s office and the Orange County Mental Health Association, Rape Crisis Services to bring the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program to St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. The examination room is at the hospital’s Cornwall campus and is the first program of its kind in eastern Orange County. St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital has a team of nurses specially trained in examining victims of sexual assault and a private examination room with equipment required for a forensic rape exam. Prior to the opening of the Cornwall location, victims had to travel outside of the community for proper examination and treatment. In 2010, the St. Luke’s Cornwall Auxiliary donated the funds necessary to purchase a Colposcope. This a necessary tool for examining rape and sexual abuse victims. “It is important for assaulted or abused victims to know they are never alone,” said Dr. Meika Roberson, assistant emergency department director at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. “The SANE program provides victims with the compassionate treatment and care needed at an extremely crucial time.” St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, a clinical affiliate of the Mount Sinai Hospital, is a not-for-profit community hospital with campuses in Newburgh and Cornwall.