Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Claire Sheridan-Matney honored at grand opening of Children’s Assessment Center of San Bernardino

By: Briana Pastorino
Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) division chief for the department of pediatrics/division of forensic pediatrics, Clare Sheridan-Matney, MD, was honored at the grand opening of the relocated Children’s Assessment Center of San Bernardino (CACSB) on Wednesday, May 21. Also the medical director of the CACSB, Sheridan-Matney was recognized for her 30 years of dedicated service treating thousands of abused children throughout her career.

 

“I believe child abuse would be better termed child cruelty,” Sheridan-Matney stated. “What is perpetrated on our infants, toddlers and children is deliberate and cruel and causes much suffering. I believe the combating of this evil is a sacred task. We bring children here to this center, not just to document their wounds but to start reversing and erasing the lessons of their perpetrators.”

 

The CACSB first opened its doors in 1994, since which Sheridan-Matney has served as medical director. The center has been a collaborative program dedicated to restoring wholeness to the lives of abused babies and children through age 18. The first center was a small, three-room medical office until Children’s Fund stepped in five years later and directed a capital campaign that resulted in the purchase and refurbishing of the Children’s Assessment Center on Tippecanoe where thousands of children were served until April 2014. The new center—which officially opened in early May—is located at 700 E. Gilbert Street in San Bernardino, is three times the size of the old building and is expected to see over 1,500 patients annually.

 

Sheridan-Matney said that in the new clinic she and her teams have the ability to incorporate therapy as well as improved multidisciplinary teams thanks to all of the individuals and agencies that played in a role in making the new center a reality.

 

“Our new clinic rests firmly on the vision and dedication of so many people representing all the agencies you might expect that have direct interest in child abuse,” she said, “those who value what we do and saw with us the necessity for a much bigger clinic to continue our mission to serve the full spectrum of the needs of our patients – the most innocent victims of human cruelty.”

 

The Children's Assessment Center of San Bernardino is a public/private partnership between San Bernardino County and Loma Linda University Children's Hospital that provides forensic interviews and evidentiary medical examinations to assist in the evaluation of child abuse allegations. The center coordinates services in a child-focused atmosphere, in an effort to reduce trauma to child victims and their families.

 

Nancy Wolfe, manager of the CACSB, expressed her appreciation to all those who are invested in the center during a special grand opening for county officials and law enforcement on the morning of May 21. “We honor and thank our law enforcement partners, district attorneys, judges, victim advocates and multidisciplinary partners for making the new CAC a reality with the promise of better serving children and families that may be harmed by child abuse.”

 

Child victims of alleged abuse are referred to the center for services from either a law enforcement agency, Family Law Court or the Department of Children's Services.

 

 ###