Dignity Health Medical Safe Haven Program Named Elk Grove Nonprofit of the Year
SACRAMENTO (Feb.24, 2020) – Dignity Health’s Medical Safe Haven (MSH) Program was named 2019 Elk Grove Nonprofit of the Year by the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce, Dignity Health announced today. The program, located at Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, provides quality patient care to survivors of human trafficking and concurrent training of residents in understanding how to provide care with the goal of building a lasting, trusting primary care relationship. California is one of the largest sites of human trafficking in the United States and Sacramento County is a key target for its proximity to larger cities.
“Dignity Health provides vital healthcare services but equally aims to bring hope to those who so desperately need it,” said Dr. Ronald Chambers, who created the program in 2016. “Human trafficking is an unfortunate reality for far too many in the Sacramento region and this program’s presence in Elk Grove is critical to the long-term healing for survivors.”
Since the inception of the MSH, the program has served nearly 800 patients. Additionally, thousands of physicians, residents, medical students and nurses have been trained in trauma-informed best practices in identifying, responding and providing primary care for victims of human trafficking.
“This award recognizes Dignity Health’s deep commitment to the entire Elk Grove community and Region, especially the most vulnerable who face truly terrible circumstances,” said Laurie Harting, Dignity Health Greater Sacramento Division President & CEO. “The Medical Safe Haven program exemplifies Dignity Health’s mission to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable health services.”
A nationally recognized program, the MSH is a U.S. Department of Justice National Office of Victims of Crime chosen model of care for residency education and program replication. Human trafficking survivors have many unique health challenges and psychological trauma that are best addressed through multidisciplinary teams that integrate medical, behavioral health care and qualified
community resources.
Dignity Health recently unveiled plans for Elk Grove’s first hospital. The MSH program will continue to be a vital resource for Elk Grove and the new hospital will allow the program to expand its reach even further.
About Dignity Health
Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a multi-state network of 10,000 physicians, more than 60,000 employees, 41 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care-centers including neighborhood hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. In FY 2019, Dignity Health provided more than $1.1 billion in patient financial assistance, unreimbursed costs of Medicaid, community health improvement services, and other community benefits. For more information, please visit our website at www.dignityhealth.org
Publish date:
Sunday, February 23, 2020