Domestic Violence Prevention & Healthcare Response
Building Safer Healthcare Systems for Survivors
Domestic violence impacts millions of individuals and families every year, often affecting physical health, mental well-being, and long-term quality of life. The Center for a Healthy Maryland is actively working to support survivors and the health care professionals who help for them.
How We Can Help You
Support for Survivors
Healing begins with connection, support, and access to trusted resources.
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Resources for Professionals
Helping professionals recognize, respond to, and support patients affected by domestic violence and trauma.
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Domestic Violence Education
When systems work together, survivors receive better support and communities become stronger.
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More than 1 in 3 women
and 1 in 6 men in the U.S. experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.
(CDC, 2026)
Higher health care utilization
(National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2024; Bonomi, 2009)
4% vs. 44%
Support for Survivors of Domestic Abuse
The Coalition’s Survivors Wellness Project exists as a resource for survivors who are navigating their health in the aftermath of abuse. We offer trauma-informed tools, education, and connections to support you in understanding what may be happening in your body and exploring options for care.
Tools for Professionals
Through education, systems support, survivor resources, and statewide collaboration, we empower you—whether you’re a healthcare professional, work in a healthcare organization, or are part of a community partnership—to create safer, more effective responses to intimate partner violence.
Health Care Trainings
As experts in the field of domestic violence and health care, we are committed to equipping medical professional to provide the best response to domestic violence in our community. We offer free virtual or on-site trainings in Maryland to health care professionals and allied professionals that address best practices in responding to abuse.
Online Resources
The Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence has developed a comprehensive series of educational materials on health care and intimate partner violence. Resources include professional guidance sheets IPV-related topics, as well as educational materials for professionals and outreach brochures for patients. All materials are available for electronic download, with many also offered in print.
Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Founded in 1998, the mission of the Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence is to provide leadership within health care in promoting a proactive and effective response to intimate partner violence through screening, identification, education, intervention and treatment of domestic violence victims.
Program Goals
Training Healthcare Professionals
Over the past decade, the program has delivered more than 200 training sessions to over 5,700 professionals, with the potential to positively impact countless survivors who seek care within the health care system.
Providing Technical Assistance to Health Care Agencies
Supporting Survivors
Program Staff
Audrey Bergin, MPH, MA
Program Director of Domestic Violence Programming
abergin@medchi.org
Lauren Dougherty, MS, BSW
Program Manager of Domestic Violence Programming
ldougherty@medchi.org