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Did Tzafon Medical Center turn away patients who were victims of sexual violence? – Israel News

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The Israeli Lobby to Combat Sexual Violence reported last week that the Tzafon Medical Center (often called Poriya Hospital) is turning away patients seeking medical treatment in the center’s intensive care unit after sexual crimes have been committed against them, and urged women who have experienced such cases to report them to the lobby.

An acute ward provides all the necessary emergency services for victims of sexual violence, such as initial psychological support, medical care, medication for contraception and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and rape kits for securing forensic evidence.

“We recently discovered that Poriya in Tiberias is once again actively turning away patients from its intensive care unit called the Tenneh Center,” said Yael Sherer, head of Israel’s anti-sexual violence lobby.

“If you called Poriya and wanted to go to the emergency room and you were given an excuse – the room is currently unoccupied, the staff is not present, we are not accepting minors or seniors, for whatever reason – contact us by mail – I want to hear about it,” she added.

The lobby also said it had spoken to the Ministry of Health’s hospital department this week about reviewing capacity in intensive care units.

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The hospital denied the allegations, saying: “The Tzafon Medical Center denies the allegation 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 know the details so that we can investigate it. The center is available 24 hours a day to provide assistance to people of all ages, in accordance with the guidelines and principles established by the Ministry of Health,” the hospital added.

“Everyone who comes forward is greeted by experienced social workers who invite the person to come and get help.”

“The management of the Tzafon Medical Center, together with the staff of the Tenneh Center and with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Health, would be pleased to meet Yael Sherer and the staff of the Lobby Against Sexual Violence to get to know the center.”

Acute rooms

The services provided in the acute rooms aim to help victims process their trauma and, if desired, initiate legal action.

Israel has ten acute care units that are designed to be available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Victims of sexual crimes are not required to go to acute care units.

It is possible to attend an acute unit for up to a week after a crime has been committed, but it is recommended that people who have been attacked seek treatment there within 72 hours to minimise the impact on the evidence collected against offenders in these units.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.



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