Partners against violence. Two Minnesota hospitals join community-wide effort

Mercy/Unity Hospitals, in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs, have joined other local organizations in an attempt to respond to increasing reports of domestic violence in the community. Their effort has focused primarily on three fronts. In 1991 the hospitals began screening their emergency department patients for signs of domestic violence. Volunteers from a local women's shelter originally provided all advocacy services for battered Mercy/Unity patients, but in 1995 the hospitals set up their own advocacy office. More recently, the hospitals have created steering committees to guide the screening and treatment of battering victims and to educate employees and patients about domestic violence. In 1992, under the leadership of the county health department, Mercy/Unity and other local groups launched a study of violence against pregnant women in the community. Two hundred women volunteered for the study. The study indicated that healthcare professionals are sometimes slow to recognize signs of domestic violence. In 1993 each judicial district in Minnesota was told to create an organization to educate the community about child abuse and domestic violence. Mercy/Unity Hospitals are represented on their county's Domestic Violence Council.