Reaching out to medical staff and employees to heighten awareness about domestic violence is the goal of the Hospital Domestic Violence Task Force. Task force members Lara Carson Weinstein, MD, Instructor, Family Medicine, and Melissa Rooney, Social Work, task force co-chair, pass out information to Philip Reeves, MD, Resident, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and Robin Canada, JMC '02. The task force staffed a table at the Atrium during National Domestic Violence month. Don Walker Photography

Healthcare Providers - Are You Screening Your Patients for Domestic Violence (DV)?

Did you know that . . . ?

• Domestic Violence (DV) can be physical, emotional, financial and/or sexual abuse

• DV crosses all racial, age, income and religious barriers

• DV, the leading cause of injury to women, results in 4 million battered women each year and 4,000 murders

• 22 to 35 percent of women seeking care in Emergency Departments and 23 percent of women seeking routine prenatal care are victims of DV

According to Hospital President and CEO Thomas J. Lewis, "Healthcare providers are in a unique position to help. Many battered women never contact the police or a shelter, but will at some point seek medical care. Intervention at this point could save a life."

Need help or want more information?

• Jefferson employees can contact FirstCALL: Your Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-382-2377

• For information about training for DV screening call Melissa Rooney, co-chair of the Hospital Domestic Violence Task Force, at 5-7214

• Call Women Against Abuse at 215-386-7777.