NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — There’s a small room a survivor of sexual assault will see when they first arrive at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“So when I first started we didn’t have a SANE program,” said Katrina Brown.

But Brown who works as a registered nurse, remembers a time when Vanderbilt Medical didn’t have a place at all 13 years ago.

“It was really disheartening at that time to look at a patient and be like, ‘Hey I’m sorry I know you came here seeking a certain type of help and we just can’t offer that for you. You need to go somewhere else,'” she said.

But all that changed in 2018 when the hospital system launched its sexual assault nurse examiner education program.

Brown said they are now going to be able to take things a step further thanks to a federal grant.

In 2023, the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime awarded Vanderbilt Medical nearly $500,000 they plan to use to expand their SANE program.

“One of the things we’re going to be able to do is offer simulations for training, so it’s really going to enhance the training opportunities that we give new SANE nurses,” said Brown.

Over the next three years, Vanderbilt Medical will train nurses, as well as expand its program to clinics in rural parts of Middle Tennessee.

“There are a lot of barriers to different populations seeking care in the emergency department,” said Brown. “Sometimes it’s just capacity, sometimes it is other medical trauma and historical experiences that create kind of a fear of the healthcare system.”

But Brown hopes this grant money will be the start in helping make things a little easier for survivors no matter where they live.

The grant money will also be used to help expand care to those within the LGBTQ+ community by training staff at their VIVID health clinic.