Chicago City Wire

UI Health has launched a partnership with WINGS, Illinois’ largest agency focused on domestic violence, to provide support services and training for both patients and staff. The initiative is concentrated on 16 ZIP codes in Chicago and aims to address and prevent domestic violence through a comprehensive hospital-based program.

UI Health is the first hospital in Chicago to implement the WINGS Hospital Program. The program offers bedside crisis intervention, medical advocacy for those experiencing domestic violence, and training for hospital and clinic staff to recognize signs of abuse. According to Daniel S., WINGS manager of hospital services, “Through our training and our advocacy, we’re giving health care professionals the resources to identify domestic violence and support survivors of domestic violence.” Daniel S. requested his full name be withheld for safety reasons.

The new program is based on a similar model that WINGS has run in the northwest Chicago suburbs for over two decades. Funding comes from the city’s Homeshare Fund, which was created in 2018 and is supported by a 2% surcharge on shared-housing units and vacation rentals.

Since the start of the partnership in January, more than 60 patients have been referred to WINGS for help. The collaboration began in the emergency and obstetrics departments, which historically see higher rates of domestic violence disclosures.

Minerva Esparza, assistant director of health social work for the maternal and child social work team at UI Health, described the impact of the partnership: “Having the ability to reach out to WINGS and immediately link to a shelter has been life-changing for our patients who need this resource. My team is grateful, and this partnership couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Esparza explained that her team was the first to use the program because responding to reports of domestic violence is a standard part of their work. She noted that financial and basic needs often keep people in abusive situations, but access to WINGS can help reduce the likelihood of returning to those relationships. “The goal is to make the patient safe. If they are ready to leave their abuser, WINGS can help with housing. If they are not ready to leave their abuser, WINGS can continue to support them through case management and counseling. They can also connect them with concrete resources,” she said.

The program also provides counseling services for children and families affected by domestic violence. Daniel S. emphasized the importance of supporting children: “It’s important to remember that a lot of children who are witnesses of domestic violence as youth have a higher rate of being a survivor, but also have a higher rate of being a person who does harm. If we’re really going to break this cycle, we need to make sure that the kids are paid attention to as well.”

Rani Morrison Williams, chief diversity and community health equity officer at UI Health, pointed out that domestic violence is often underreported among patients. “One of the things that we knew anecdotally was that the occurrence of domestic violence is definitely higher and greatly unreported amongst our patient population, which is the nature of domestic violence,” Williams said. “So, when WINGS brought us this opportunity, we saw there was really no downside to it.”

Williams added, “It’s been a real value-add, not just for our patients but across the board, because I think everyone now has a true expert to lean into to help support our patients the best way we can. Having this available for our patients to get that support in real time is literally lifesaving.”

A key element of the partnership is staff training. Francesca Davis, strategic project manager for the Office of Diversity and Community Health Equity at UI Health, said that monthly training sessions draw strong participation and cover topics such as teen dating violence, human trafficking, traumatic brain injury, and strangulation. “As an added bonus, our nurses and social workers can get continuing education credits towards their licenses,” Davis said. “Plus, WINGS can offer ad hoc training on other topics as requested.”

Davis also noted plans to expand the program beyond the hospital: “If they might be in a domestic violence situation themselves, they can also call WINGS and get the necessary help to get out of their own situations. So, it is absolutely going to be available to the university community at large, and we hope to launch that in the very near future.”