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| DEKALB JAIL INMATE MEDICAL CARE UNIT ACHIEVES FULL REACCREDITATION BY NATIONAL HEALTH CARE COMMISSION |
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Decatur, GA – The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) notified DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown Friday, June 17, 2005, that the commission has fully reaccredited the jail’s inmate medical care unit.
“Accreditation confirms that a facility is 100 percent compliant with applicable essential standards for health services in jails and at least 85 percent compliant with applicable important standards,” said Judith Stanley, NCCHC’s director of accreditation. “We congratulate DeKalb County’s facility for maintaining its accreditation and its position among an elite group of nearly 300 accredited jails nationwide.”
A team of five NCCHC auditors, including a physician and four nurses, performed a comprehensive evaluation April 25 - 28, 2005, to determine if the facility continues to meet the commission’s Standards for Health Services in Jail.
“I am happy but not surprised,” Brown said. “The announcement comes on the heels of an audit performed June 13 – 15, 2005, by a court-appointed medical monitor, Dr. Ronald Shansky, who said that we are consistently providing good inmate health care.”
Attorneys for jail inmates filed a lawsuit (Ernest Adams, et al v. Sidney Dorsey, et al) in 1997 claiming that the jail’s medical services were grossly inadequate. The lawsuit was settled in March 2001, less than three months after Sheriff Brown was elected, with the requirement that a court-appointed monitor provide oversight of the jail’s medical services.
Dr. Shansky will present his official report to Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams for review within the next two weeks, according to Sheriff’s Office Legal Affairs Director Xernia Fortson. Judge Adams has set a hearing for July 29, 2005, to decide if the jail’s medical unit will be relieved of oversight, Fortson said.
Brown said he is optimistic that the award of full reaccreditation will significantly impact the judge’s ruling. However, “With or without oversight, we care about the persons housed in our facility. We are committed to ensuring that inmate health care meets or exceeds state requirements,” Brown said.
At Brown’s request, NCCHC conducted an on-site review of the jail September 16 - 19, 2002. After a follow-up inspection in January 2003, NCCHC notified Sheriff Brown that the
Jail had earned an Accreditation Upon Verification (AV) rating, meaning that full accreditation would be granted with proof of consistent performance on two identified aspects of jail and medical staff communication with inmates. NCCHC awarded full accreditation on June 27, 2003.
NCCHC is a nonprofit organization founded by the American Medical Association in the 1970s to improve health services provided by the nation’s jails, prisons, juvenile detention and confinement facilities.
For more information about the commission, visit www.ncchc.org
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