Sentara leads the way in human trafficking awareness education for healthcare workers

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital becomes first in Virginia to receive specialized training from U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Signs of human trafficking can be difficult to recognize, but healthcare professionals are often uniquely positioned to identify victims and connect them with help.

That message was at the center of an August 2026 training event at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital that brought together more than 100 healthcare workers, law enforcement officials, and community leaders.

The session, titled "The Crime Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking," was presented by Tom Ruck, senior engagement manager with the Center for Countering Human Trafficking's Blue Campaign at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Sentara Norfolk General is the first hospital in Virginia and among the first in the nation to receive this specialized training, reflecting Sentara Health's commitment to patient safety, clinical excellence, and protecting vulnerable populations.

Recognizing what may not be obvious

Human trafficking is a significant public health issue, and recent cases identified in healthcare settings have underscored the importance of ensuring medical teams have the knowledge and tools to recognize potential victims.

According to the Virginia State Police Human Trafficking Unit, human trafficking exists in every locality in the Hampton Roads region. And hospital settings can be especially important in the fight against it because they may be among the few places where victims interact with professionals they can trust.

That puts healthcare workers in a distinctive position to recognize when something about a patient's circumstances does not seem right.

"They know what's going on, and they feel it," Ruck said. "They can feel when something is wrong."

The training focused on clinical, behavioral, and environmental indicators that could signal human trafficking. Participants learned screening and reporting best practices along with appropriate intervention tactics and ways to collaborate with law enforcement and community partners.

The critical skill of listening

One of the challenges healthcare workers may face is that trafficking victims can present with physical and/or behavioral symptoms that could be mistaken for other conditions.

"From a behavioral health lens, we often notice symptoms that seem delusional," said Elizabeth Dixon, Ph.D., manager of Sentara's behavioral health navigators. "The stories the patients come in and tell appear so far-fetched at first; they are hard to believe."

Even so, she emphasizes that healthcare providers should not take on the role of determining whether a patient's story is credible.

"It is our job to listen, and then report it to the proper authorities," she said.

A Sentara leader's personal mission

For Lavinia Smith, senior director of government programs for Sentara, the training is much more than a professional initiative.

A member of her family was a victim of human trafficking and went to a hospital outside of Virginia seeking safety. The experience demonstrated how critical a healthcare worker's response can be.

"The individual I was with, my family member, was shamed," Smith said. "They were not believed."

That experience became a catalyst for her, and for the past two years Smith has worked to bring the Department of Homeland Security training to Sentara to make human trafficking awareness and response part of the system's efforts to protect patients.

"I have made it my mission to ensure that when potential victims come into our facilities, we are going to make sure our staff is trained properly," she said.

Sentara's role in a statewide challenge

The recent training at Sentara Norfolk General comes as human trafficking continues to be investigated across the Commonwealth.

Just last year, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 237 trafficking cases involving 376 people in Virginia. The number of signals of trafficking that the hotline received was higher: 544, including 171 signals directly from survivors or people experiencing trafficking.

For Sentara, this awareness effort represents a commitment to preparing healthcare professionals to recognize trafficking when it appears in a clinical setting and to provide them with the tools necessary to respond in the appropriate manner.

A Sentara hospital may be the only place a trafficking victim encounters someone in a position to help, who understands what to notice, how to listen, and what to do to get them to safety. Being ready for that moment is not optional - it is part of the mission.