WATERVILLE -- Health-care professionals at four hospitals in the region aim to improve services for victims of sexual assault by putting a network of nurses on-call around the clock.

The hospitals involved in the talks are MaineGeneral in Waterville and Augusta, Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan, Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield and Inland Hospital in Waterville.

Sexual-assault victims' advocates estimate the program would cost around $100,000 annually if the four hospitals share services. Providing the services without a regionalization plan would cost more than three times that amount, said Polly Campbell, director of Maine's Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) program.

"I would love to get every hospital to have enough nurses to provide 24-7 coverage," Campbell said.

Campbell said most hospitals in the state do not have full coverage in this way. When someone is the victim of a sexual assault, he or she must receive prompt medical care in addition to forensic testing, administered by specially trained nurses. SAFE-certified nurses receive training to prepare them for work with patients who have been traumatized emotionally and physically.

Need for these professionals is growing. The number of sexual assault victims requesting treatment jumped to 531 in 2006, up from 334 in 2003, MaineGeneral spokesperson Diane Peterson said.

Actual incidents number even higher, said Sarah Stewart, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault spokeswoman.

"Nationally, less than half of the victims end up reporting to police," she said. "It's one of the most under-reported crimes -- a lot of people self-blame, or they fear reporting or embarrassment."

In a way, health-care professionals view this increase as a positive sign, Campbell said -- it means more people are becoming aware of the services available. But the human cost incurred among victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, providing care for them, costs the state $1.3 billion each year, Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said.

Rowe at a recent forum urged health-care professionals to find ways to save money through regionalizing the program.

Hospitals employ about 65 SAFE nurses throughout the state, 10 of whom work at MaineGeneral. Sexual assault victims in most parts of the state cannot count on 24-hour availability.

MaineGeneral, for example, has more SAFE-trained nurses than most hospitals in the state, but only provides the service about 85 percent of the time, MaineGeneral SAFE Program Coordinator Sherri Thornton said.

Hospital administrators at this point have not drawn up a time line for implementation of a regionalized system, but they have agreed to continue working toward that goal.

"There's a cost to the hospital," Campbell said. "They don't make money on these exams, and they have to get a nurse trained, and they have to think about that at this time of tight budgets."

Joel Elliott-- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com