Middlebury College Improves Access to Health Care for Victims of Sexual Assault

Middlebury College, the highly rated liberals arts educational institution in Vermont, has entered into a partnership agreement with nearby Porter Medical Center to expand resources for victims of sexual assault. Under the terms of the agreement the sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) at the college will team up with their counterparts at the hospital. If there is no one on campus available for a student who has been victimized, a sexual assault nurse examiner from the hospital will be called upon. Likewise if the hospital staff has a heavy workload, a sexual assault nurse examiner from the college may be called to the hospital to help out.  The agreement increases the number of sexual assault nurse examiners available to Middlebury College students from three to seven.

Mark Peluso, a physician at Middlebury College, stated that “when we looked at the resources available to both institutions and the challenges we each faced, we realized we had an opportunity to establish a comprehensive combined program by recruiting and training new and current employees at both organizations. In the rare instance that a Middlebury trained examiner isn’t available, a student will be able to go to Porter, where a SANE will serve as back up.”