Hospitals in Action >> Case Examples

BAYSTATE HEALTH, Springfield, MA
Correctional Care Program

What is it?
A partnership with the county jail that has been recognized as a model program by the CDC, Baystate Health's Correctional Care Program loans a registered nurse to the prison, paying for her benefits while the jail pays her salary, and staffs the program with physicians and nurses affiliated with the health system. Inmates are screened for various diseases and receive a physical and mental assessment, and a long health history is taken. Those with chronic illnesses receive regular follow-up care, and before being released, inmates are given appointments to continue medical treatment at a local health center with the same health team who treated them in jail. A phenomenal 88 percent of inmates keep their medical appointments after release.

Who is it for?
The program directly serves the inmates of the Hampden County Correctional Center; indirectly, the program reduces the risk of illness in their families and the community at large.

Why do they do it?
County jail inmates have an extremely high incidence of communicable disease and untreated chronic illness. If these inmates remain untreated, many more individuals will be at a greater health risk when the inmates are released.

Contact: Jane Albert
Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications
Telephone: 413-794-7750
Email: jane.albert@bhs.org