HopeLine from Verizon, the company’s domestic violence prevention program, has awarded $20,000 to the M. Gage Ochsner, MD, Institute for Injury Research and Prevention at Memorial University Medical Center. Intended to help Memorial fight domestic violence, the grant will fund Memorial’s ongoing campaign to train nurses, physicians, residents, and EMS personnel to recognize signs of domestic abuse among patients to Parker’s Emergency & Trauma Center. 

Memorial’s initiative, "Recognizing Signs of Domestic Violence," includes training on how to screen, hand-outs, workshops, and one-on-one coaching. Awareness and marketing materials funded through the Hopeline grant include posters, screen savers, and brochures with testimonials.

James R. Dunne, MD/FACS, chief of trauma service at Memorial said, “As the sole safety net hospital in a 35-county region and home to the region's only Level I Trauma Center, Memorial screens over 2,500 trauma patients annually. This grant will provide training support to take us to a new level of screening, collecting information in the patient’s electronic record. We believe that tracking screening details in one place will allow us to identify trends and prevent future abuse through intervention programs provided by our community partners.”

“At Verizon, we are dedicated to supporting local domestic violence prevention and awareness programs,” said Roger Tang, president - South East Market, Verizon Wireless. “We are proud to help all of those at Memorial who are on the front lines saving lives each and every day receive the tools and training they need to be more aware of the signs of domestic violence.”

A longstanding supporter of domestic violence awareness and prevention, Verizon launched the HopeLine program in 2001. HopeLine provides consumers the opportunity to donate no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any service provider to benefit victims and survivors of domestic violence. Devices and accessories given to HopeLine are turned into valuable financial support for domestic violence awareness and prevention initiatives across the country. In 2015, Verizon collected 700,000 phones through HopeLine and distributed over $7 million in cash grants to domestic violence organizations nationwide.