Passionate is a word that comes to Anne DeGroot's mind when she remembers one of her correctional healthcare colleagues, Dr. Stephen Tabet, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month at age 42.

"He was a very hands-on person," said DeGroot, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Community Health at Brown University and a physician for Connecticut's Department of Corrections.  "He really cared passionately about the education of [healthcare] providers in corrections."

Tabet lived out his desire to educate others in the field by working as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington, a physician at Harborview Medical Center's Madison Clinic in Seattle, an educator at the Northwest AIDS Education Training Center and a researcher at the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.  In addition, he was a former deputy editor of the Hepatitis Education Prison Project (HEPP) Report, which provides information about HIV and other infectious diseases to corrections healthcare professionals. 

According to DeGroot, Co-Editor of the HEPP Report, Tabet was always available and accessible to his colleagues who had questions.

"He provided online support for the corrections providers that were out there," DeGroot said.  "I know that he interacted with people directly by email."

But, Tabet's contributions to correctional healthcare extend far beyond the support he lent to other people working the field.  He carved paths for improvements in healthcare for inmates with HIV, as well.

Aside from treating inmates in Washington, Tabet served as an expert witness in the Leatherwood v. Campbell case, a class action lawsuit brought by HIV-positive inmates at Alabama's Limestone Correctional Facility who claimed the state's Department of Corrections did not provide them with adequate healthcare.  After reviewing medical records and examining inmates there, Tabet issued a report on HIV care at Limestone. (http://www.schr.org/prisonsjails/press%20releases/limestone_report.8-26-03_web.doc)

In 125 pages, he detailed the deaths of 38 HIV-infected inmates at the facility.

"His report provides unflinching documentation of death by starvation, respiratory failure from untreated respiratory illnesses leading to death by suffocation and complete inattention to clear clinical presentations of opportunistic infections," DeGroot said.  "He looked at what happened and was unafraid to say the truth."

Ultimately, in May, the inmates prevailed and the court ordered the DOC to improve its HIV care for inmates.  According to Beth Weaver, who worked closely with Tabet at the University of Washington, that was one of his major contributions to the field.

"I would consider [it] to be one of his most significant accomplishments in correctional healthcare," said Weaver, acting instructor, University of Washington Center for AIDS and STD Research. 

After working with Tabet for five years, Weaver regards him as a mentor.

"Because of his influence, I've learned a lot about caring for HIV-positive inmates," Weaver said.  "Without him and his influence, I would not have had that experience."

Weaver is one of several of Tabet's colleagues who are now going to different correctional institutions and delivering HIV care to inmates; Tabet secured the contracts for them to do so.

According to Weaver, he had stopped treating inmates in recent years to focus on his work with the Vaccine Trials Network, a collaboration of scientists and healthcare professionals searching for a HIV vaccine.

"[He] started phasing out the actual hands-on work [at the correctional facilities], but continued to network within the state trying to get more fellows involved to carry on this effort," Weaver said.  "He would identify areas of need and try to get us in."

In addition, Tabet spent some of his time at the Northwest AIDS Education Training Center doing HIV training in corrections, Weaver said.  He stopped that about a year ago to concentrate on the Vaccine Trials Network, she added.

But Weaver remembers her colleague for more than just his contributions to correctional healthcare.

"He had an infectious laugh that everyone enjoyed being around and was very playful and he had a wonderful sense of humor and a very gentle spirit," Weaver said.  "I think he inspired people around him and was able to motivate people in a positive way, which I unique, I think," she added.  "He really just loved life and loved people."

Among the people Tabet cared for were the inmates suffering from HIV at the nation's correctional facilities who he tried to help, especially those in Washington.

"When I think of him, I think of how much he was loved and respected and I think of all the patients' lives he touched who, if it wasn't for him, wouldn't be alive today," Weaver said.  "Something I will always remember about him is the impact he's had on so many lives."

Because of Tabet's strong dedication to correctional healthcare and his hard work to improve conditions for inmates at Limestone, HEPP Report had nominated him to receive the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network's Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights.  He passed away without knowing of this honor, but HEPP plans to remember him at the next National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC) meeting in October 2004 by presenting the first annual Steven Tabet Prison Medicine Advocacy Award to a correctional healthcare professional.

"We need more correctional physicians like Steve," said DeGroot.  "Perhaps by setting up an award for physicians who have a high standard and are advocates for good correctional healthcare, we'll be able to support those physicians who are like Steve and keep them in correctional medicine."