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Jail�s health issues grow serious, costly Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Dr. Jim Hales extracts an abscessed tooth from an inmate at the Jackson County jail as a guard watches the inmate�s hands and every move he makes. Caring for inmates costs the county $70 per inmate per day � if they don�t require medical care. Sheriff Bob Kennedy says 14 percent of the jail�s residents are mentally ill. Inmates� dental mental, medical care all add up By JILL BRISKEY An average of 230 men and women will be processed through Jackson County�s jail today. Fourteen percent of those inmates will be mentally ill. A large number of other prisoners will need immediate medical attention or dental care after they�re booked. A handful will be pregnant, and expected to give birth before their release date. Average inmates As the year 2000 closed, Jackson County Sheriff Bob Kennedy discovered a few new details about the prisoners processed through the jail. The average inmate in the Jackson County Jail is a 32-year-old male who will remain in custody 32 days, Kennedy said. That male prisoner will have a record with 11 previous arrests, and have a 54 percent chance of returning to the jail within a year. Almost all prisoners use tobacco, Kennedy said, and about 85 percent of inmates in the county jail either test positive for methamphetamine use or have a residue of the drug on their personal items. Despite the fact that an estimated 230 inmates are processed daily, the jail has 175 beds, 20 of which are for women, and a federally imposed cap of 190 prisoners. And most prisoners, according to Sheriff Bob Kennedy, are battling with an addiction to drugs, alcohol or tobacco and the effects of a sudden withdrawal. "The problems we�re facing are growing worse and worse," Kennedy said. "Every day it�s a scramble." In order to offset the cost of caring for inmates, jail officials are looking at ways to cut back while the prison population soars. Charging the inmates for coffee or a hygiene kit were simple solutions, Kennedy said. Dealing with pregnant inmates is another matter entirely � especially if the mother is addicted to drugs, said jail Capt. Ed Mayer. "It�s a real dilemma," Mayer said. "Decisions were being made about a pregnant mother based on a budget, and not what was best." Allowing an inmate to give birth in jail means the county would pay for the birth itself and any complications with the mother or child, Mayer said, adding that a premature baby could rack up $1 million in medical bills. But releasing a pregnant inmate who also is an addict means taking a chance that the mother will return to the same lifestyle and harm the child, Mayer added. "As a society, then we would be paying for that," he said. In order to offset the potential cost and protect the unborn child, Mayer has helped to create state House Bill 3200. If approved, his proposal would allow the status of pregnant women on the Oregon Health Plan to be suspended instead of cut off during their incarceration. That means that as a woman went into labor, she would be discharged immediately and her suspended status with the OHP would be reversed, Mayer said. "This will make all of the difference in the world," Mayer said. "They are going to stay clean and sober until the time they give birth." Without pulling any teeth, the county has created another solution for a serious problem by contracting with Apple Family Dental in Grants Pass. In the past, a guard would transport and accompany a prisoner who needed emergency dental treatment, according to jail Sgt. Dan Penland. Apple Family Dental employees now perform necessary procedures inside the jail, Penland said, bringing their equipment with them. That cuts back on overtime and allows deputies to respond if an emergency situation erupts in the jail. "It�s a risk anytime you take someone outside," Penland said. "In the long run, hopefully, this will benefit us." The county has yet to find a more efficient way to deal with mental illness, despite hiring a mental health care worker and nurse who work Monday through Friday at the jail. Inmates requiring emergency medical treatment must be accompanied by a guard during their hospital stay. More than $700,000 was spent last year to pay for correctional deputies� overtime, Kennedy said. "There aren�t any easy answers," Kennedy said. "Things are only going to get worse." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.