Photos of women in uniform lined the walls. Women walked around tables advertising support for LGBT people and people who had experienced sexual trauma. Pink and silver balloons floated just above their heads.
The John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital hosted an event last week geared toward women and informing them of available services.
Eleven women-centered services set up the tables at the event, offering brochures and information about their groups, said Dawn West-Rosado, the women's veteran program manager.
More than 100 veterans attended the event, said Chris Durney, the public affairs officer.
Ladonna Hobson, who served in the Army, said she appreciates the hospital making an effort to share the information with women veterans.
"It helps you like to take better care of yourself," Hobson said.
She said often women who are veterans don't receive as much information about services as men do.
It's something the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is trying to make more of a priority, West-Rosado said. This can be as simple as making sure there are tampons in the bathrooms or women's pajamas on every floor of the hospital.
West-Rosado recalled a woman who cried when she gave the veteran pajamas designed for women. West-Rosado said she thought the woman was crying because the pajamas were ugly, but the woman cried out of relief that she didn't have to wear men's pajamas.
"She says 'no, that's not it. I don't have a fly,'" West-Rosado said.
Margaret Robinson is a veteran and has volunteered at the hospital for six years, accumulating more than 6,000 hours of volunteer service. She was a sergeant in the Air Force from 1974-83.
Robinson said it's helpful to have all the services in one place.
From 2-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, women trickled in and out of the space.
"What we're trying to do is advertise that we do see women," said Tricia Moses, the women's health medical director.
The hospital offers its Women Health Clinic and the Breast Imaging Center specifically to women. The center recently tripled in size, allowing it to expand its waiting room and add a space for the women who work there.
Sherry Harper, a radiology technologist at the center, said employees reach out to their patients if they miss appointments and provide them with extra support.
"We try to run our clinic like a family," Harper said.
A big part of making sure that women feel comfortable seeking their veteran benefits is that the department has to acknowledge the military's high prevalence of sexual assault.
The Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military showed that about 20,500 service members -- 13,000 women and 7,500 men -- were sexually assaulted during fiscal 2018.
This number markedly increased from about 14,900 in 2016.
For the people who work at McClellan Hospital in Little Rock, those numbers mean that there's more work to be done. It means having women's-only spaces for activities such as yoga or tai chi. It means talking about sexual assault. Billy Hipp, the sexual trauma coordinator, said he offers gender-specific sexual trauma groups.
Hipp serves as an advocate for people who have experienceda military sexual assault and tries to connect them with additional services, he said.
They are "slowly trying to change the culture," Moses said.
Metro on 05/20/2019