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In This Issue:
From left, Ron Hindelang, Jackie Savage Borne, Liz Spurrell, Lucila Leone, Katrina Cosner, Mardi Chadwick, Wanda McClain and Idalia Carrasco.
As a primary care provider, Liliana Rosselli-Risal, MD, knows all too well the cycle of domestic violence. She also knows of the important role care providers and Passageway advocates play in removing the stigma surrounding domestic violence and helping patients rebuild their strength.
“Domestic violence should not be in the back of our minds, but in the front,” said Rosselli-Risal, who has worked at Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center for 10 years. “I thank the Passageway advocates who welcome every single patient with patience and kindness and who have taught me so much about looking for signs of domestic violence in patients.”
Rosselli-Risal shared her reflections on the impact of domestic violence during the hospital’s annual Honoring Survivors ceremony last week, when BWHers from across the hospital gathered along with staff of Passageway, the hospital’s intervention program that offers assistance to employees and patients experiencing domestic violence.
“The hospital and all its programs and activities must be a hearth—a place of warmth and safety for survivors of domestic violence,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, during the event in the Bornstein Amphitheater.
During the ceremony, guests were invited to write the first name of a survivor, victim or care provider they wanted to honor and to place that card in a box at the front of the room along with a rose. The melodies of Voices Rising, a women’s chorus, resounded throughout Bornstein as they sang “Warrior” and “Over the Rainbow.”
BWHers seated in the audience read aloud selections from the BWH and Faulkner Hospital Clothesline Project and Shoe Project. The two projects enable care providers and domestic violence survivors to express their feelings by decorating shoes and T-shirts with words and art, illustrating the impact of domestic violence. This is the first year that BWH participated in the Shoe Project, and the collection of decorated sneakers, flip-flops and high heels was displayed in Bornstein.
“This is a day to acknowledge the impact of domestic violence and to say that we can overcome it,” said Mardi Chadwick, JD, director of Passageway. “We continue our journey of promoting peace, safety and solace.”
For more information about Passageway, call 617-732-8753.