What happened after Fredericton ER turned rape victim away? Internal documents reveal aftermath

Sexual assault victims were turned away from New Brunswick emergency departments more frequently in the months leading up to the case of a Fredericton woman last summer than in the previous eight years, documents obtained by CBC News reveal.

Roxanne Paquette, provincial co-ordinator of the sexual assault nurse examine program for both New Brunswick health networks, made the comment in an email to interim Horizon CEO Margaret Melanson the day after the case became public.

CBC News had reported that a 26-year-old sexual assault victim in Fredericton had gone to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital's emergency department to get a rape kit performed during the New Brunswick Day long weekend. She was told no one trained to do the exam was available until the next day.

This response to assault victims wasn't new, according to the email from Paquette, who'd been in the job since 2014.

She told Melanson that when examiners with the program, known as SANE, weren't available, patients were sent between the Horizon and Vitalité health networks or asked to schedule an appointment.

"We have been transferring patient[s] between VHN and HHN or booking SANE appointment when SANE are available more often in the last 6 months [than] we have done since I am a provincial coordinator," Paquette wrote. 

SANE has been challenged by the same staff shortages as other health services, and "COVID certainly didn't help."

Paquette sent the email on Sept. 13 in response to an email from Melanson about the "very unfortunate circumstance with the patient" in Fredericton.

The Fredericton victim, whom CBC is not naming, was instructed to go home overnight, not shower or change, and to use the washroom as little as possible to help preserve any evidence.

She did get an examination a couple of hours later, after a police officer intervened, and a SANE nurse was called in after working the night shift.

The story triggered national outrage, however, and an internal review of the SANE program.

Horizon later announced sweeping changes to the program, which sees sexual assault nurse examiners provide forensic exams, including the collection of physical evidence admissible in court.

They also provide medical exams, medications to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, compassionate support and resources for followup.

The changes, worth about $1.16 million, included plans to add full-time examiners, who would be dedicated to the SANE program instead of being on-call on top of their regular duties.