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| Allegheny County Jail inmates bemoan unsanitary conditions |
| By Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| Published: 05/09/2005 |
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More than a month after two female inmates died of drug-resistant staph infections at the Allegheny County (Pa.) Jail, inmates are still expressing concerns about a lack of hygiene at the facility, the jail's oversight board chair said last week. Common Pleas Judge Kim Berkeley Clark said she received a letter April 25, signed by 65 inmates, detailing sanitary problems, including leaky washing machines, rusty lockers and a lack of toilet paper, toilet brushes and mops. Another inmate wrote that he contracted "some kind of disease" he thought might be related to poor hygiene at the jail. An inmate's mother also told the oversight board she believed her son had an infection. "I want to know what is being done about the staph infection that is running rampant in that jail," said Carol Lang, 59, of Wilmerding. She said that in January her son had to have "a hole in his arm" packed with gauze because a lesion medical staffers diagnosed as an allergic reaction or a bug bite "ate through him." He now has similar boil-like lumps on his spine, hip and stomach, she said. Dana Phillips, director of medical services at the jail, promised to investigate. Phillips recently met with Warden Ramon Rustin and board member Dara Allen to look at ways to improve lines of communication so corrections officials can quickly contain any future outbreaks. The warden agreed that the jail needed more cleaning supplies and working laundry machines, Allen told the board. "He inherited a building that has a lot of problems. They're not just going to be fixed overnight," Phillips said. |
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