By Noelle Crombie
oregonlive.com
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Corrections has hired a recruiter to help bring in doctors and nurses to work in its prisons and is hosting town halls with prisoners to learn more about health care gaps, an agency leader told lawmakers this week.
Corrections Deputy Director Heidi Steward said the troubled health care system faces “a lot of challenges,” specifically in hiring and retaining medical staff and ensuring prisoners get off-site care when needed.
Steward did not directly address a recent comprehensive review by an outside attorney that found the corrections health care system in crisis — and lawmakers did not press her on the scathing report’s findings. The report focused on upheaval among the ranks of prison doctors roiled by retaliation and allegations of poor management that led to substandard care.
That report led Director Michael Reese to fire the chief medical officer, Dr. Warren Roberts, and his boss, Joe Bugher, who served as assistant director of health services.
Bugher answered to Steward, who has since taken over managing health services for state prisons.
The medical system has a long and documented history of problems delivering adequate care to Oregon’s 12,000 prisoners. Last year, the state paid $3.5 million to the family of a prisoner who died after court records say his heart attack symptoms went untreated at the Oregon State Penitentiary.
An Oregonian /OregonLive investigation published last month found more than half of the 18 physicians authorized in the agency’s budget have been on paid administrative leave, have resigned or been fired during the last year.
Steward acknowledged the staffing woes and said the new recruiter focused on health care openings may ease the agency’s medical staffing problems.
She said the department has turned to contracting with nurses, which has proven an expensive solution. The agency expects a 52% increase in nursing costs over the next two-year budget cycle as a result.
The state’s budget for prison healthcare is about $496 million, most of it from the general fund.
Steward also pointed to the agency’s new focus on getting prisoners to community-based specialists, telling lawmakers that off-site medical trips are up 14% from last year.
She said the agency has hired additional staff to work on scheduling those visits and bought additional vans that accommodate wheelchairs, which “will increase capacity for our transport team to get patients to their appointments.”
Steward told legislators that corrections officials are working to improve the powerful committees made up of prison medical staff and administrators that determine whether prisoners can access specialists outside the prison system.
The outside investigation of the health care system noted significant problems with the process, which effectively turned into a bottleneck within the system.
Steward said the list of medical issues previously requiring the committee’s review has been revised. Decisions about care are no longer delayed because of canceled meetings and other logistical problems, she said.
“These problems have been fixed,” she told members of the public safety subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. “We are trusting our professional providers to use their independent judgment and make appropriate referrals.”
Corrections officials also are hosting meetings with prisoners to hear their concerns, Steward said.
A flyer distributed to prisoners at the Coffee Creek women’s prison shows one such meeting will be held next week. It invites prisoners with “complex medical needs,” including those who have waited more than three months to see a specialist, to attend.
Each person will have five minutes to talk about their situation with a medical manager, the flyer states.
The state has hired an outside contractor to help improve health services.
Steward also told lawmakers that the Chicago -based Falcon Correctional and Community Services will “look at our health care delivery system and to make recommendations on ways that we can improve and also highlight what’s working well.”
According to the Department of Corrections contract, the state will pay up to $367,225 for that review. The consultant is expected to deliver a report about its findings in June.
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