IHC joins YWCA to fight abuse

The brand-new mother had to stand in her hospital room holding her child because the father was lounging on her bed watching television.

Hildegard Koenig had entered the hospital with injuries from physical abuse. She had been the victim of domestic violence so long, she didn't say a word when the man kept cranking up the volume while she tried to talk to a doctor.

Koenig told a group gathered at the YWCA Monday that the moment the doctor forcefully told the man to knock it off proved to be a turning point in her life.

"The doctor was the only person who stood up against my abuser," said the petite woman who is now an educator for the YWCA.

As part of YWCA's annual "Week Without Violence," the group announced a partnership with Intermountain Healthcare that includes a $2 million donation toward a new residence for women, children and families like Koenig's.

The new residence will allow the YWCA to expand bed capacity by 50 percent and will provide a safe and healing place for women and children who are homeless as a result of domestic violence, according to Anne Burkholder, the agency's chief executive officer.

There is a clear connection between Intermountain Healthcare's commitment to providing support that cultivates healthy families and the services provided by the YWCA, said Rebecca Chavez-Houck, who is director of Centro de la Familia and also serves on the IHC and YWCA boards.

"Prevention and intervention services provided by the YWCA now and into the future via the organization's expanded campus will reduce the unfortunate numbers of domestic violence cases that impact our health-care system," she said.

An emergency room physician told the group he sees victims of domestic violence every day. "It is indeed a cycle of violence," said Todd Allen, a director of research and an emergency room doctor at LDS Hospital.

A recent study found that 10 percent of women admitted to the emergency room at LDS Hospital were there as a result of domestic violence. Further studies indicate one in three women are victims of domestic violence at the hands of an intimate partner at some time in their lives.

Partnership like the one created between YWCA and IHC is crucial for solving the domestic violence problem, which Allen said he sees with "disturbing prevalence."

"If we try to tackle this problem only at LDS Hospital, we will fail. If we try to tackle it only at the YWCA, we will fail. If only the police try to tackle it, we will fail," he said.

The state's Department of Child and Family Services last year identified 12,000 children who were victims of abuse and domestic violence, said Dr. Julie Bradshaw, director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Families and Primary Children's Medical Center.

"The donation today is a wise investment."

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