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| Hepatitis common at Washington Penitentiary |
| By thenewstribune.com - SHEILA HAGAR |
| Published: 11/29/2011 |
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WALLA WALLA, Wash. — It is arguably one of the most private of taxpayer-funded hospitals. And despite offering free medical care, the price of admission would be considered inordinately high by most. The exterior perimeter of the patient-waiting area is just one tip-off - there are no "welcome" signs, only a high chain link fence topped by coil after coil of razor-sharp wire. This facility is the newest hospital at Washington State Penitentiary and no one receives care here unless they are behind bars. Nonetheless, on this day, Trevor Roberts is happy to get the attention his hepatitis C demands, he said. "I started doing IV drugs when I was way young. I shot meth starting at 16." Now 21, the inmate is serving time for arson and possession of a stolen vehicle, he said from his hospital bed - just some consequences of his drug addiction. Once released, the health effects will haunt him far longer than his prison sentence, he conceded. But for today, there is a clean, if sterile, room, with nurses attending his needs. Which is nice, Roberts said - his mother died when he was a preschooler and his dad has been out of his life for a long time. "It's better here than in my cell. I get some privacy I don't normally get." Nurses do end up taking the place of family in some cases, said Julie Mason, inpatient services manager and 20-year nursing veteran of the penitentiary. Primarily that happens when patients are approaching death and their family of origin has lost all contact. Penitentiary staff works with Walla Walla Community Hospice to help give dying inmates the support of kin, she said. "We're the buffer," noted Kathy Jackson, a nurse in the infirmary, adding if families are involved, the penitentiary staff works with them. "Now we communicate with the families. Ten years ago we didn't." When an offender has been in prison a long time, his peers behind bars become family. In those cases, inmates may be allowed supervised visits to dying friends, staff said. In Roberts' case, effective treatment can delay some of the worst effects of his illness, Mason said. "We do everything we can here. We will do a liver biopsy and treat it with medication." If this offender is luckier than history indicates, he will get a liver transplant in the future if needed, she added. Hepatitis and diabetes are two of the most common issues staff at the hospital treat, but it's like any community hospital, Mason noted. "Other than the OB stuff, we have a little bit of everything." Unlike other hospitals, however, patients get searched, locked into rooms and sometimes restrained. The waiting rooms - separated into a quadrant system by walls and windows to avoid agitation and potential assaults between patients - are overseen by men and women in blue shirts and pants, the uniform of penitentiary correctional officers. "All the safety and security measures are not just for the staff, but for the patients," explained spokeswoman Shari Hall as she stood in front of a control booth with windows overlooking nursing stations and hallways. A few steps to one side is the dental clinic. Through a locking metal door, the space looks much like any high-volume practice. Dental stations are separated by short walls and each of the five chairs are filled. One separate room is used to confine high-risk offenders. Rubberized paint covers the walls and floor. Some offenders - the prison's official term for inmates, Hall said - enter the corrections system having had regular dental care. "But I think the majority is probably to a lesser degree." Read More. |
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