Jeff Bergosh Blog: What is the Status of Inmate Health as of 9-21-2017?

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I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following : Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Jeff Bergosh, Republican, for Escambia County Commissioner District 1

Thursday, September 21, 2017

What is the Status of Inmate Health as of 9-21-2017?

At the workshop earlier today, several issues were discussed pertaining to our health facilities in the County Jail.

We heard from Director of the Jail Medical Clinic Dr. Paul Henning, and we also heard from Corrections Director Tamrya Jarvis. The discussion settled around exactly what our inmate health picture looked like, a snapshot if you will. We have heard about lots of inmates needing dialysis treatments, we have heard about patients on expensive AIDS medicines, etc.

This very informative update, below, was provided by Corrections Financial Manager Whitney Lucas.

"As of today, at 2:30pm, there were 24 HIV patients and 2 dialysis patients incarcerated at the Escambia County Jail. To date there have been 304 dialysis treatments provided to 8 incarcerated individuals since October 2016. These treatments come with a price tag of $650/each plus transportation costs. Dr. Henning was asked to provide the number of patients receiving chronic care within the facility at this time. In the month of July 2017 there were 118 scheduled routine/follow-up appointments. August 2017 saw an increase in these visits resulting in 206 appointments. It is important to understand that these figures do not represent the total number of patients held at the facility with chronic ailments as there are some who may not have been scheduled for their follow-up/routine visit during that two month period. The utilization/cost of EpiPens was also discussed this morning. According to our records we are currently remitting $278.73 for a 2 pack of these."