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State Considering Privatizing Health-Care Service Prison Nurses Looking at Uncertain Future

Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Indiana's plan to switch contractors for prison health care services also includes a provision to privatize hundreds of prison nurse positions.

The state's prison health-care system is managed by a contractor, Prison Health Services, Inc., which provides the doctors. But the nurses are mostly state employees.

Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue said in a previous interview that the state sometimes had problems filling all the nursing positions. Currently there are 447 prison nursing positions in the state and only 316 are filled by state employees. The rest are filled by a temporary service or are vacant.

Now the department is in negotiations with Correctional Medical Services to run the health-care system, including all doctors and nursing positions.

Rebecca Fowler, a 13-year veteran nurse at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, said nurses there were told June 23 that Correctional Medical Services will be taking over the contract for prison health services starting Sept. 1.

Java Ahmed, a department spokeswoman, said the contract with Correctional Medical Services has not been formalized but the state is in negotiations with the company and that details on future nurse staffing levels are not yet available.

Fowler said the roughly 50 nurses at Wabash were told they must reapply for their jobs and that open nursing positions would not be filled during the transition.

She said officials gave the nurses a letter with the same information on June 27. The letter, signed by Donahue, says the change is being made to make the system more efficient and effective.

"The majority of us are just hanging loose to see what (Correctional Medical Services) offers," Fowler said, adding that she took the job initially for the job security and benefits.

Joe Lawrence, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the move is a mistake, citing reports of unhygienic conditions and lawsuits for inadequate health care at facilities in other states where Correctional Medical Services provides health care.

"What we're hearing is that a lot of good nurses are getting ready to leave. People with commitment, skills and a strong work record are looking at the door,"

Lawrence said. "CMS brings with it a troubled record. This doesn't bode well, either for the state service or loyal state employees."

Source: Evansville Courier & Press

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