Inviting Stakeholder Participation
Meeting Agenda
- Population of approximately 137,240, spread over 2,200 square miles.
- One county has a landmass larger than Rhode Island (1,040 square miles), while the other three are considerably smaller (416,389, and 355 square miles, respectively).
- Mountainous terrain and winter weather conditions can make travel a challenge.
- The largest hospital (with 286 beds) is three to four times the size of each of the other hospitals (with 70, 90, and 95 beds, respectively).
The meeting took place in April 2003. After introductions were made, time was allotted to create a common base of knowledge about SANE programs and SARTs and provide background information on the project. A brainstorming session followed to identify issues related to project logistics and possible challenges. During lunch, the meeting’s planners sorted the issues identified into categories for the afternoon dialogue. Participants were grouped with representatives from their communities during lunch so they could talk informally about the implications of the project for their jurisdictions. After reconvening, participants focused on how to address obstacles to project implementation, the potential benefits such a project offered, and strategies for making it work.
Two critical outcomes resulted from this meeting. First, four of the six counties initially identified agreed to participate in the project (Harrison, Lewis, Randolph, and Upshur Counties). Each had a local hospital, a few SANEs working in the hospital, a rape crisis center, and an active SART. Two counties opted out. Lacking sufficient SANEs or the strong SARTs that the other counties possessed, they believed it would be too difficult to gain the support needed to implement and sustain the project.
Second, the participants agreed that although sharing a vehicle over their region’s geographic area would not work, sharing SANEs among hospitals seemed feasible.