_{Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose}

Editor’s note: The following article includes a reference to the sexual assault of a minor.

Del Norte Healthcare District officials are investigating allegations that Sutter Coast Hospital emergency room doctors have refused to examine sexual assault victims, including those who are minors.

The initial complaint came from Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Det. Maia Mello, a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team. At the DNHCD’s July 28 meeting, Mello asked the Healthcare District Board to provide the hospital with a “letter of encouragement to follow established federal and state law, locally established and agreed upon protocols and the best practices in the treatment of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.”

“Sutter Coast is the best place for our victims to receive treatment for their acute injuries and conditions,” she said, according to meeting minutes for July. 

Mello told Healthcare District that the hospital’s “less-than amazing response” has been occurring over the past 24 months. She said the SART team has emails trying to establish a better relationship with the hospital going back into 2025.

Mello described a 5-year-old who had recently presented to the emergency room with “suspected physical and sexual abuse indicators.” Mello said the ER doctor refused to provide testing and treatment for symptoms to the child in a timely manner. As a result, the patient was discharged with “at least one untreated condition that meets the definition under EMTALA.” 

EMTALA is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the federal law that requires Medicare-funded hospitals with emergency rooms to provide stabilizing emergency care.

“‘The doctor provided a reason to the sexual assault nurse examiner that he, quote, ‘did not want to be subpoenaed and suggest she get an outpatient provider to conduct that follow up,’” Mello told Healthcare District officials on July 28. “The doctor also ignored the recommended diagnostic protocol for her visible injuries.”

Speaking with Redwood Voice Community News on Monday, DNHD Board President Dr. Kevin Caldwell said that the Healthcare District can take their concerns to the State Inspector General if Sutter Coast Hospital administrators don’t address the allegations. Caldwell said the topic will come up at the Healthcare District’s next meeting on Oct. 27.

This is a developing story. Redwood Voice Community News will provide updates as soon as new information is available.

At the DNHCD’s July 28 meeting, Mello described other instances where ER doctors have refused to examine or treat sexual assault patients. In one case, an adolescent who reported possible sexual assault with accompanying symptoms was denied testing. The sexual assault examiner reported that the ER doctor asked “well, was she really raped.”
Another patient reported having to return to the emergency room five times because the hospital continually discharged her without providing the recommended diagnostic testing for her visible injuries, Mello told Healthcare District officials.

“Our documentation goes back years, however,” Mello said. “All three of these cases were severe enough and had enough evidence for the perpetrator to be charged with related crimes by the District Attorney’s Office.”

Mello said she spoke with a sexual assault nurse examiner at Sutter Lakeside Hospital, who told her that that emergency room’s protocol is standardized and works seamlessly providing acute care, forensic examinations as well as following up with the case.

“The ER doctor on duty there orders the appropriate test for STIs and pregnancy and either provides follow up prescription services or appropriate referrals to follow up care,” Mello said. “I was both heartened and dismayed to find another rural Sutter hospital with limited community resources that could have such a vastly different patient and team experience.”

Sutter Coast Hospital CEO Mike Lane told Healthcare District officials in July that he and District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey had been communicating to try to understand “where there were some issues and where we can make corrections.” Lane described a meeting scheduled for July 29 at 10 a.m., saying that it would include Starkey, the District Attorney and a “couple of other people.”

“I can’t tell you how upset I am at the physician that would do this, but we’re going to make sure that this kind of stuff doesn’t happen again,” Lane said in July. “It’s certainly our goal at the hospital to care for our community.”

On Monday, Caldwell said that following September’s Del Norte Healthcare District meeting, he and his colleague David Mason reached out to Public Health Officer Dr. Aaron Stutz, who “seems to be on board for a solution.”

“We want to fix the problem going forward, which means that this committee needs to get together with the intention of fixing the problem,” Caldwell said. “The specific things that are going wrong need to be specifically addressed in terms of why they are not going to go wrong in the future, and this all needs to be put down in writing and all parties have to agree to it.”

All parties, according to Caldwell, include the Sutter Coast Hospital administration, the SART team and representatives of EmCare, the physicians group that operates the hospital emergency room.

“(We want to) make sure it’s right in their face,” Caldwell said. “If you’re a not-for-profit, if you’re the sole community provider, by law you have to do this, so let’s fix it.”
The Del Norte Healthcare District meets at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the Del Norte Wellness Center, 550 E. Washington Boulevard in Crescent City. Agendas and minutes are posted here.