Sexual Assault victims in the Junction City/Geary County area will no longer have to travel long distances to receive a thorough medical examination.

Geary Community Hospital announced the opening of their new Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and Sexual Assault Response Team program Tuesday. The hospital now has three nurse examiners trained who will be on call 24/7 to assist emergency room staff and other outlets in helping sexual assault survivors by collecting evidence, while keeping them safe.

Tiffany Naccarato, the SANE/SART Program Medical Director explained they will be working closely with local law enforcement.

“We’re going to be trusting one another to move forward as we work with the victims of sexual assault,” says Naccarato. “Moving forward to prosecution, really these victims often present to the police department, or the Sheriff’s Department, depending where the jurisdiction of the incident occurred. We then rely on them to notify us that we have a victim that we can serve. That becomes a reciprocal relationship as we work through possible prosecution, or just assisting a victim as they transition in to being a survivor and what those needs equate to be.”

The program is available to the surrounding area and other jurisdictions.

The program was made possible through substantial funding assistance from the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation and the Junction City Police Department and Geary County Sheriff’s Department.