Board Gets Report, Creates Panel on Jail Health Services

As the Board of Supervisors received a new report on medical services in the county’s jails Tuesday, the supervisors agreed to create a panel to review the various surveys and recommendations on health care for inmates.

The supervisors’ move was sparked by a request from Sheriff Lee Baca for increased funding for medical care in the jails. But first, Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mike Antonovich asked that a special panel help evaluate whether the budget increase is necessary and to analyze the various suggestions for improving health care to inmates.

The new report, released Tuesday by the county’s Risk Management Inspector General Michael Kranther, called for the Sheriff’s Department to revamp the medical program to better meet inmates’ needs and reduce liability to the county.

“The first issue is the need to provide appropriate medical care in a timely fashion,” Kranther wrote in his report. He said he found examples of a system that is “not always able to make appropriate clinical judgments and respond to the medical needs of inmates in a timely and appropriate fashion.”

Kranther suggested several organizational changes, including creating a separate medical services division. Because the bulk of medical care in the jails is provided by registered nurses, Kranther also suggested the appointment of a director of nursing who could oversee the entire nursing staff and provide clinical direction.

Moreover, Kranther said the department, which runs the largest jail system in the country, needs to better address chronic medical and mental health care needs of the inmates, many of whom he said have been receiving “inadequate” care.