Inmates in the state prisons or federal jails have a right to get treatment just like any other citizen of the United States of America. Certain rules entitle them to treatment and medical care when they need it. All the correctional facilities have the responsibility of providing health care although not free of charge. According to recent studies, most inmates are required to give copayments for them to get medical care. To coordinate the health care program, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which is a governmental agency, helps regulate healthcare provisions in all prisons. This paper aims to address this organization, its structure, and effects of healthcare.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons was established with the intention to manage the correctional facilities in 1930, under the administration of Herbert Hoover. In the beginning, the agency had 11 prisons that increased to 24 facilities that had around 24000 inmates by the 1940s. The number of facilities remained stable until it doubled much later when there was a need to confine inmates with the same security requirements in the same facility.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a division of the Department of Justice. It consists of several branches of a board just like any other agency. It is responsible for coordinating the federal prison system, which handles prisoners who are accused of violating the Federal Law. One of its primary responsibilities is to provide medical care to the incarcerated prison inmates as stipulated in the State and Federal Law (Wallechinsky, n.d).
The agency has its headquarters in Washington DC. Among its facilities are six regional offices, 117 prisons, 22 correctional officers and two staff training centers. Around 219,000 inmates are under the care of the agency with eighty percent occupying the government facilities. The rest are distributed in local facilities and private prisons (Wallechinsky, n.d). Another responsibility of the Bureau is to carry out the federal legal executions, one of its most harmful responsibilities.
The federal government has a lethal injection center in Indiana. The lethal injections are for those inmates who have been sentenced to death. These injections should be set up appropriately to ensure that the process is as humane as possible. It is the responsibility of the Bureau to make sure that the lethal chamber is properly maintained before and after the execution.
There is diversity when it comes to the composition of employees in BOP. They comprise of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians among other race. The majority of these employees are male. Thorough training is offered to the staff before embarking on the service as federal personnel. The employees are given formal training for two hundred hours and additional training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, which is located in Georgia.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons takes the responsibility of housing mothers and their infants through the mother and infants together program (MITP). This program caters to those women who get into the BOP facilities while pregnant. In case the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, the program pays for an abortion.
Under no other circumstance is abortion allowed in the facilities under the agency. Non-BOP facilities, however, support abortions of all types whether threatening or non-threatening to life (“Prison life,” 2015). In case a woman gives birth while in prison, they are allowed to keep their child for the first eighteen months. An accused woman can also apply to take with them to jail a child who is younger than eighteen months old. In case a parent is single, the social service organizes how older children are brought up, either by the relatives or fostering.
The staff in the correctional facilities are trained on how to handle prisoners who are bullies and those at the risk of self-harm or suicide. These personnel should gauge the mental health of these patients and ensure that they get medical support from health specialists regularly. Some prisons have programs known as the “listener schemes,” which provide emotional support to the prisoner, in confidence. In case a prisoner becomes mentally ill, they are moved to a secure psychiatric hospital. They, however, have to meet all the conditions as stipulated in the mental health act. To ensure that cases of mental disorders are dealt with efficiently, people are encouraged to report their concerns to the “safer custody team” in prisons (“Prison life,” 2015).
The BOP has so far established over three thousand health care facilities. Officers from the department of health and human services are commissioned to serve in this division. The joint commission accredits all the departments dealing with healthcare in all institutions under the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The only exceptional department is the care level 1 as they provide services to healthy inmates.
Within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there is the health services division, which is responsible for providing the mental, dental and medical health services to the federal inmates. Other responsibilities include infectious disease management, healthcare delivery, and medical designations. The health service department helps manage the food program. This program is aimed at ensuring that the prisons have nutrition education, heart-healthy diets and dietary counseling (“Medical Care,” n.d). The department also coordinates a safety program that is involved with the conditions of the environment occupied by the inmates and their staff and occupational safety. This safety program aims at ensuring that there is a safe and healthy environment for all inmates.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons uses credential and licensed ambulatory care units while providing health care. Community specialists and consultants are responsible for supporting the particular units. The Bureau also ensures that those inmates with acute and chronic diseases get advanced medical care as the agency has established several medical referral centers in prisons. To make sure that the prisoners seek medical attention, there is continuous counseling offered to inmates about infectious diseases prevention. The Bureau has also established chronic care clinics that deal with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (“Medical Care,” n.d).
An intentional tort is an intended wrong act that causes harm to a person. In prison, an inmate can sue a tortfeasor for inflicting pain or neglecting their responsibility of providing medical care. Some of the intentional torts in prisons include battery, assault, trespass, infliction of emotional distress and conversion. When the tortfeasor breaches a call of duty, thus causing injury or harm to an inmate, this is regarded as negligence, a type of tort (LaMance, 2015). Medical malpractice lawsuits are very prevalent in the United States (Bal, 2008). Most patients in prisons have demonstrated that there is negligence in providing medical care hence causing injury. To prove a case of negligence, the patient has to prove four elements such as the professional duty of the healthcare provider to the patient, the breach of the particular duty, the injury that resulted from the violation and the consequent injuries.
It is, however, important to note that managing health care in prison is not easy. There are a lot of complicated health problems such as mental illnesses, infectious diseases, and addiction. There is also an increased number of aging inmates who need more health care providers than their younger counterparts. This is because older people tend to be more vulnerable to diseases. Some healthcare facilities such as Wexford and Corizon have been criticized for providing inadequate medical care and neglecting an Idaho prison. The facilities were also criticized for not attending to prisoners who have terminal diseases (LaMance, 2015).
In conclusion, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is a governmental agency that is responsible for ensuring that all inmates receive appropriate health care. Just like any other American citizen, prison inmates are entitled to get medical care. As some fail to accept to take treatment, some programs are put in place to emphasize the importance of good health. Before undertaking any procedure, the health providers should seek the approval of the inmate unless the prisoner is not in a position to decide. Cases of negligence and intentional torts have significantly reduced as the agency takes the time to train the staffs on the rules and regulations that operate the prisons. Although healthcare in prisons has improved over the years, it is still inadequate in most prisons. Therefore, a lot needs to be done especially to make sure that the prisoners are not denied the right to access medical treatment.
References
Prison life . (2015, June 3). Retrieved March 4, 2016, from Gov: https://www.gov.uk/life-in-prison/arriving-at-prison
Bal, B. S. (2008, November 26). An Introduction to Medical Malpractice in the United States. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2628513/
LaMance, K. (2015, July 17). Civil Tort Law. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from Legal Match: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/civil-tort-law.html
Medical Care. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2016, from Federal Bureau of Prisons: https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/medical_care.jsp
Wallechinsky, D. (n.d.). Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from All Gov: http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-justice/federal-bureau-of-prisons-bop?agencyid=7204
