Inmate Medical Services

Inmate Medical Care

A jail physician is available by phone 24 hours per day and provides an onsite medical clinic once per week.

Mental heath personnel are also utilized; a psychiatrist holds an on site clinic every other week and a psychologist provides both group classes and one-on-one time with inmates.

A registered nurse is on site 30 hours per week. The nurse screens new inmates for medical needs. Many inmates come in with injuries, chronic medical conditions, prescription medications, or other health issues. The nurse provides sick call for the inmates that have submitted a medical request.

These inmates are triaged and treated by the nurse or referred to the physician or psychiatrist if necessary. The nurse also provides physical exams and tuberculosis testing for inmates that have been in custody for 14 days.

Medical services are provided in the 10' by 14' medical office. This small space serves as a medical office, exam room, medication room, medical supply storage, and records storage.

Because the inmate population exceeds the bed space available in Benton County, rental beds are utilized in the Lincoln, Linn and Yamhill County jails.

Each time an inmate is transferred, the nurse completes a Medical Transfer form to alert the receiving medical office of any medical issues the inmate may or may not have.

Each time an inmate returns from a rental bed, their Medical Transfer form is reviewed by the nurse in order to provide continuity of care. The nurse's strict 30-hour work week leaves little time for in depth staff training, inmate health education, continuing education, etc.

For inmate medical needs that occur during the nurses off hours and cannot be met by the corrections staff or the medical doctor via the phone, the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center Emergency Department is utilized. This is a very expensive, but sometimes unavoidable necessity. With a larger jail and appropriate medical staff, the expense of rental beds and off site medical care could be drastically reduced or eliminated (see Jail Status Video).