WATERMARK
Issue 4.24
Nov. 27 - Dec. 10, 1997
Page 13
Inmates Treated Differently in Central Florida Jails:
A survey reveals widely diverent policies
For a person who is arrested and on medication, going to jail can be unpleasant at best, and life threatening at worst. How the system processes a person being booked for a crime directly affects how fast they have access to necessary medications, and even if medicatio will be given at all. THe situation is exaverbated for HIV/AIDS patients, who are often on extemely strict and regulated protease inhibitor cocktails.
No jail will let a newly booked inmate bring in their own medication unverfied, for obvious reasons. However, smaller correctional systems such as Osceola County, wiht chandles on average 500 inmates a month, will simply have their contracted physician verify a perscription and the medicaiton itself before giving to an inmate. Orange County, meanwhile, processes nearly 3,500 inmates a months and has its own complete in-house medical staff, and will only dispense medication to an inmate from its own pharmacy after the inmate has been fully processed.
A survey of four differnet counties revealed the widely divergent practices of processing medicaiton to a newly booked inmate, and also vividly showed how unprepared ost counties are for HIV/AIDS patients on protease inhibitors.
ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTIONS: Does not segregate HIV/AIDS inmates, due to part of a 1994 suit settlement in which the county agreed not to segregate nor require/coerce HIV screening of new inmates. Of the ageage 3,500 inmates the system precesses a month, approximately 2-3% of the population is HIV+ (although those numbers are not officially tracked by the division). The six correctional facilities of Orange County are medically seved by an in-house staff of two doctors and a nursing staff, including an on-site pharmacy. WHen a self-identified HIV/AIDS inmate is booked and requests medications, the facility's medical staff first verifies the perscription through the inmate's doctor and pharmacist. Once it has been verified, the medication is dispensed by the facility's pharmacy only. According to the county's spokesperson, medical needs of any newly booked inmate are addressed within an hour of being brouth into central booking.
SEMINOLE COUNTY CORRECTIONS: Does not segregate HIV/AIDS inmates, nor requires mandatory HIV screening of new inmates. Of the average 750 inmates the system processes a month, approximately five members of the population are HIV+ (although, as with Orange County, those numbers are not officially tracked by the division). The correctional facilities of Seminole County are medically served by an in-house nursing staff, with physician care contracrted out to a doctor in Altamonte Springs, who visits the facility five days a week and who is on call 24/7. When a self-identified HIV/AIDS inmate is booked and requests medications, the facility's nursing staff first verifies the perscription thorugh the inmate's doctor and pharmacist, then the medical director decides if the medications if necessary for the inmate. Upon recommendation of the medical director the medication is given to the inmate fromthe inmate's own supply. The spokesperson could not give a time window for the procedure.
OSCEOLA COUNTY CORRECTIONS: Does not segregate HIV/AIDS inmates, nor require mandatory HIV screening of new inmates. Of the average 500 inmates the system processes a month, approximately 2% of the population is self-identified as HIV+. THe correctional facilities of Osceola COunty are medically served by an in-house nursing staff, with physician care contracted out to a local physcicians clinic. WHen a self-identified HIV/AIDS inmate is booked and requests medicaitons, the facility's nursing staff first verifies the perscription through the inmate's doctor and pharmacist, and if it is deemed medically necessary for the inmate, the medication is given to the inmate fromt he inmate's own supply. THe spokesperson could not give a time-window for the procedure.
PINELLAS COUNTY CORRECTIONS: Under a federal consent defree in effect since 1970, the correctional facilities have to segragate any inmate with a communicatable disease, although it does not require manadory HIV screening. The system processes an average 2,200 inmates a month, but not spokesperson would comment on the percentage of that population which is HIV+. The correctioanl facilities of Pinellas County are medically served by a contracted company that provides in-house care. WHen a self-identified HIV/AIDS inmate is booked and requests medicaitons, the facility's nursing staff first verifies the perscription through the inmate's doctor and pharmacist, and if it is deemed medically necessary for the inmate, the medication is given to the inmate from the inmate's own supply. The inmate is then put into medical care or a segragated area. Again, no spokesperson would give a time-window for the procedure.
