As the year draws to an end, VIP is pleased to announce that the long-awaited Forensic Urgent Care Center is now open to children, seniors and families in need. This marks the end of a multi-year campaign to bring all of the VIP medical services and clinics together under one roof within the outpatient department at LAC+USC Medical Center with triple the space for patient care and support services, new equipment, and a renewed commitment to intervening to protect every child, teen, adult and senior from interpersonal family violence, child abuse and sexual assualt.
Located on the third floor of the Medical Center's Outpatient Tower, the Forensic Urgent Care Center is home to the Community-Based Assessment and Treatment Center (CATC), the Sexual Assault Center, the Adult Protection Team/Geriatric Clinic, and the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders subspecialty clinic. The Center has triple the exam rooms for medical/forensic exams of suspected abuse and assault victims and for ongoing medical care of children under Department of Children and Family Services supervision. The Adult Protection Team - which sees elder and dependent adults - has doubled its exam and waiting room space. The Sexual Assualt Center has specially designed exams rooms with private showers and changing areas for victims. And all of the clinics now have offices for integrating mental health services, crisis intervention, and support services for patients and families.
This integration and expansion means that VIP will be better equipped to serve the steadily increasing number of individuals coming through our doors. CATC sees approximately 1,000 children each month, and is open 24 hours a day to any law enforcement or social service worker who might know of a child that they suspect has been abused or neglected. The doctors and nurse practitioners on staff at CATC are trained in forensic exams to determine the nature of a child's injuries and if they have been assaulted or abused and to offer the best level of care to heal and protect the child in the future.
The maintenance and operations of the new Center are part of the unique public-private partnership VIP has with the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services to provide services to victims through public entitlement funding. Funds for this phase of renovation were raised by VIP through private sources including foundations, corporations and individuals. VIP is particularly grateful to the Ahmanson Foundation, the Weingart Foundation, the Rose Hills Foundation, and the Rubin Family Foundation for their very generous support in helping reach the $1 million goal set for this capital campaign two years ago. Many others contributed to the effort and their gifts will be recognized in the clinic and their dedication will be a benefit to children for decades to come.
The renovation work has brought new color and life to a previously cold and generic space, a change that will promote healing and security for children and seniors who have been traumatized. The project has incorporated a significant amount of reclaimed and recycled materials making the clinic more fiscally and environmentally responsible.
VIP will hold a formal Grand Opening celebration for the Forensic Urgent Care Center in the Spring 2010 when all the final touches have been put in place on this wonderful new space - the realization of a long time dream for VIP and Executive Director Dr. Astrid Heger. In the meantime, the doors are open and VIP stands poised to do all it can to protect anyone who fears for their safety at the hands of someone they should be able to trust.
