Correctional Health Services : About Us

Providing Care for 130,000 people per year takes dedicated individuals with expertise in medical, mental health, and dental health care. To ensure the quality and continuity of those services, additional employees with health care knowledge are required as well as employees to manage the administration and finances of this $50 million/year operation.

Medical doctors, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, and psychologists brought their expertise to more than 99,700 patient visits in the year ending June 30 2009. Additional patient care is provided by Registered Nurses (RN), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), and Correctional Health Technicians (CHT) with the support of Health Unit Coordinators (HUC). During a typical 24 hour period, at least 45 RNs, 35 LPNs, 38 CHTs, and 30 HUCs work 8 hour shifts providing needed services. During the year ending June 30 2009, these hard working individuals provided over 602,000 patient visits! Mental health professionals assess patients on a daily basis. Over 37,000 mental health counseling appointments were held. Ensuring the mental health of our patients is just as critical as caring for their physical health.

The health care needs of our patients are as complex and diverse as the population. Approximately 11% of our population has high blood pressure, another 7% are diabetic, and 1.5% are designated as Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI). Specialty patient visits including internal medicine, infectious disease, and orthopedics exceeded 3,000 appointments.