Last week, Israel’s lobby against sexual violence reported that Tzafon Medical Center (often called Poriya Hospital) has been turning away patients seeking medical treatment in the center’s acute room after sex offenses committed against them, and it called on women who experienced this to report cases to the lobby.An acute room has all the emergency services required for victims of sexual violence such as initial psychological care, medical care, medication to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and rape kits to gather forensic evidence.“We recently found out that Poriya in Tiberias is once again actively turning patients away from their acute room, called the Tenneh Center,” said Yael Sherer, head of Israel’s lobby against sexual violence.
“If you called Poriya and wanted to go to the acute room and were told some excuse – the room isn’t currently working, the staff isn’t present, we don’t take minors or elderly, any reason, contact us via mail – I want to know about it,” she added.The lobby also said that they discussed checking the activity of acute rooms with the Health Ministry’s Hospital Division this week.
The hospital rejected the allegations, saying, “Tzafon Medical Center denies the claim that the Tenneh Center did not accept requests from patients in the past year.“If there is a specific complaint, we would be happy to get the details so that we can examine them. The center is available to give help 24 hours a day for people of all ages, in accordance with guidelines and principles set by the Health Ministry.“All those who reach out are received by experienced social workers who invite the person to come and get help.“The management of Tzafon Medical Center would be happy to meet with Yael Sherer and the staff of the lobby against sexual violence together with Tenneh Center staff and with the participation of Health Ministry representatives in order for them to get to know the center.”
Acute rooms
The services provided in acute rooms are aimed at helping the victims deal with their trauma and pursue legal action if they wish.
Israel has 10 acute rooms that are supposed to provide service 24/7, every day of the year. However, victims of sex offenses are not obligated to go to the acute rooms.It is possible to go to an acute room up to a week after an offense, but it is recommended that anyone who was assaulted go within 72 hours to be treated and to minimize the degradation of the evidence collected against the assailants.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.