I knew as soon as I saw the expansion article in the J-W that somehow this was going to be used to fuel the attack on the LMH sexual assault team - and their policies. Surely the timing of the article was poor. Could it possibly be that the J-W has an agenda? And that their agenda has little to do with accurately reporting facts? It's so much easier to mindlessly regurgitate the words of our illustrious DA without ever checking to see how much basis in truth his charges have. Could our DA have an agenda of his own? You think? A politician with an agenda? What a concept.

Virtually every fact in each of these articles about LMH turning away rape victims has been twisted almost beyond recognition. And if anyone on a sexual assault team had ever been given a chance to respond to ANY of these charges, the perception of the general public would be very different. We are a small group of people who are dedicated to providing the best possible care for victims of sexual assault in our community. Sometimes - such as in the case of a pediatric patient - the best possible care involves transferring them to a facility that specializes in the unique psychosocial and physical aspects of doing a pediatric rape kit. And sometimes - such as the night that triggered this whole firestorm, when three victims presented at roughly the same time - patients get transferred to the facility that can do the rape kit in the most timely manner. It takes 3-4 hours to properly do a forensic exam, and if there is one nurse available to do the exams it is certainly in the victim's best interest to go to a facility that can provide that - fast. Lest you think that LMH is the only hospital around with only one SANE nurse on call, you might want to rethink that. LMH is by no means the only facility in the greater Kansas City area that operates on the same staffing level, and it accepts victims from other hospitals when they experience the same multiple victim/same time scenario that LMH did.

It's very difficult to hear criticisms of any program from people who truly have not been given access to all the facts. It's also difficult when people in the same sort of "helping fields" jump on the bandwagon without really knowing what they're talking about. And it's particularly hard knowing that all of us who do these exams do it out of compassion and a desire to promote the greater good. Because believe me, doing a rape kit is a brutally draining - and life altering - experience. The fact that we all volunteer to be SANE trained should speak volumes to the fact that most people simply are not cut out for it.

I must have missed the day in training where they taught you to turn the other cheek when you got crucified in the press - all because of inaccurate reporting based on erroneous facts picked up by concerned citizens who don't know what they're talking about.

First, the E.R. has secluded rooms. It does take several hours to collect evidence for the rape kit. A trained nurse is the proper way to collect such evidence - not through a "forensic personnel." Counseling and support staff are part of the treatment, I'm sure.

Second, none of the victims that were transported from LMH to another hospital were denied medical care. They were first treated and then transferred for speedy collection of sexual assault evidence.

LMH does its very best to give everyone that walks through its doors the best treatment possible, sometimes that entails transferring a patient to a facility with better equipment and treatments that are not available at LMH.

There really are no words to adequately describe the misrepresentations and fallacies of what is being "reported" by our local newspaper and our (soon to be unelected) DA. That the general public takes these reports as truth is not their fault. Well, perhaps that's not totally true. How many other stories have come out that have been met with scepticism, disbelief and a hailstorm of counter arguments. But say something negative about the hospital, the dedicated staff and Gene Meyer and everything has to be true...hell it was reported as gospel.

Why is there no respect for the people who have dedicated their lives to serve this community? Has the media so tainted your view of life? I have been personally involved with the very same people you try so hard to criticize and I can only ask myself why. Why do they continue to work for you, 24/7/365? Why do they care about you and your demanding and demeaning ways?

Probably because its not about you. It will always be about them. It will be about their caring and compassion, regardless of how you treat them, either in your thoughts or in the press.

LMH will be there for you. That's one thing that you can count on.

And, the point remains valid that many hospitals, including LMH, seem to be spending huge amounts of money on things that don't directly improve patient care.

Most patients would prefer that patient care be improved.