Valued Voice

On Oct. 22, Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) Foundation Executive Director and WHA Vice President of Education and Corporate Partnership, Leigh Ann Larson, visited Southwest Health to present them and the Southwest Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART) with the 2026 Global Vision Community Partnership Award. 

L to R: Dan Rohrbach, CEO of Southwest Health; Leigh Ann Larson, WHA Foundation Executive Director and WHA Vice President of Education and Corporate Partnerships; Terri Fugate, Director of the Emergency Department, Southwest Health; Paula Schoenberg, Outreach Services Director, Southwest Health; Amy Lyght, Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department, Southwest Health; Darlene Masters, Executive Director of Family Advocates, Southwest Health ; and Stephanie Ambs, Sexual Assault Outreach Advocate, Southwest Health.  

SART, a multidisciplinary partnership established in 2013, aims to improve the response to sexual assault across rural southwest Wisconsin. The program addresses the significant prevalence of sexual violence and the challenges rural survivors may face in accessing specialized medical-forensic care, advocacy and legal services. At the center of the initiative is Southwest Health’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, which has expanded from one nurse to five specially trained SANE nurses. The program provides trauma-informed care, medical-forensic examinations, evidence collection, forensic photography and injury documentation, STI and pregnancy education, assistance with reporting when requested, and referrals to advocacy and follow-up services. 

SART brings together Southwest Health, UW–Platteville, the Platteville Police Department, Family Advocates, the Grant County District Attorney’s Office and other regional partners. Each organization contributes specialized expertise in health care, advocacy, education, law enforcement, investigation and prosecution. This coordinated model reduces the need for survivors to navigate disconnected systems or travel long distances for specialized services. The program has demonstrated sustained impact for more than 13 years. SART improves access to compassionate, survivor-centered care while strengthening collaboration among health care, advocacy, education, law enforcement and justice-system partners. 

The Global Vision Community Partnership Award recognizes and rewards community partnership projects that work with a WHA member hospital to meet an identified community health need in an innovative or creative manner. Award winners each receive a plaque of recognition and a $3,000 grant to continue to fulfill the mission and activities of these valuable programs.