On April 18, GNYHA and the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) will co-host the New York State Office of Victim Services (OVS) for an update on the transfer of sexual offense evidence collection kits (SOECKs) from hospitals to an OVS-maintained storage facility. The transfer is happening on a phased basis, and the State facility has begun receiving kits from Phase 1 hospitals. OVS will share lessons learned from Phase 1 and provide information to guide future phases. More information on the rollout schedule is below. This event is a follow-up to our January 6 program, where OVS provided guidance on the procedure for transferring kits, including use of the web-based software platform to identify kits. Links to the guidance and GNYHA’s summary of the law that requires hospitals to maintain and transfer SOECKs can be found here.
OVS Rollout Schedule
Phase 1, which began in mid-January, includes: Capital (Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, and Washington counties), Mohawk Valley (Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, and Schoharie counties), and Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Niagara counties).
Phase 2 will begin in May and includes: Central New York (Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties), Long Island (Nassau, and Suffolk counties), and North Country (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Niagara counties).
Phase 3 will begin in August and includes the New York City region.
Phase 4 will begin in November and includes: Finger Lakes (Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties), Mid-Hudson (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties), and Southern Tier (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties).