http://www.topix.com/boston/2009/12/ma-death-of-dominican-immigrant-in-jail-in-boston-prison-health-services-defends-careMA: Death of Dominican immigrant in jail in Boston- Prison Health Services Defends 'Care'MA: Death of Dominican immigrant in jail in Boston- Prison Health Services Defends "Care" Jail defends care after inmate death By Maria Sacchetti The Boston Globe Staff / December 6, 2009 The new $20 million building was built for women, but the floor plan was a safety risk because it lacked privacy and protection for female inmates.
http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2009/12/ma_death_of_dom.htmlMA: Death of Dominican immigrant in jail in Boston- Prison Health Services Defends "Care"
Jail defends care after inmate death
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe Staff / December 6, 2009
The new $20 million building was built for women, but the floor plan was a safety risk because it lacked privacy and protection for female inmates. Officials found a solution in 2003: Use the building to house male immigrant detainees facing deportation, often for short stays. Now the once-vacant building is filled with 270 immigrants on an average day, bringing in $10 million a year in federal funding.
The system has operated for many years, but now Building 8 is facing scrutiny following the Oct. 19 death of Dominican immigrant Pedro Tavarez, of a heart attack at age 49. The tragedy has prompted questions about his medical care inside the house of correction. Local authorities declined to comment on his case because a federal investigation is pending, but they maintain that they provide extensive medical care and recently opened their doors to a Globe reporter and photographer for a tour of the Boston jail.
“We’re proud of what goes on here,’’ Superintendent Gerard Horgan said as he led a tour of Building 8 and the 44-bed infirmary at the jail hard by the Southeast Expressway. “Everybody who comes in here is somebody’s brother, sister, mother, father, son, or daughter, and we try to treat them with respect. We try to make sure that they thrive when they are here.’’
The Globe was prohibited from interviewing detainees because of privacy rules at the jail, and Suffolk officials would not answer direct questions about Tavarez’s care. As a result, the portrait of medical care at Suffolk conflicts sharply: Jail officials say they have highly rated medical facilities that provide care as quickly as possible, while detainees said in federal court that Tavarez asked for help three times and was not treated until detainees found him soaked in sweat and shivering in his bunk.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts says it has received several reports about delays in care at the facility, including in Tavarez’s case and after the 2006 death of another detainee. That death did not come to light until this year. New rules require the government to announce detainee deaths to the news media.
Tavarez’s daughter has hired a lawyer to look into his death, and federal officials are also investigating.
As they await the outcome of the federal investigation, jail officials said they want to make clear that Suffolk provides round-the-clock medical care through a private contractor, Tennessee-based Prison Health Services Inc. A federal monitor assigned daily oversees the entire operation. An official for the company declined to comment.
Building 8, a clean, four-story building with sparkling floors, TVs, and long, beige-colored cells that sleep six men each, has a nurse during the day. Each residential floor has a box where inmates can request medical attention daily.Continued...
The infirmary, a short walk from Building 8, resembles a small emergency room. It is staffed by three physicians during the week and seven to eight nurses each day. The staff provides general medical care, along with mental health, dental, and nutrition services, physical therapy, optometry, and care for infectious disease. The infirmary serves all 1,620 inmates in the jail and receives 50 to 70 medical requests a day, authorities say.
On the recent visit, nurses bustled about in scrubs with stethoscopes, a dentist attended to an inmate’s teeth, and a patient received kidney dialysis. Down a long, quiet corridor, some inmates went through detox and a handful of others were on suicide watch, requiring frequent checks.
If inmates need to go to the hospital, the jail has a contract with Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain because they are trained to work with prisoners.
Emergency cases are taken directly next door, to Boston Medical Center.
The circumstances of Tavarez’s care are unclear. But on Oct. 16, Tavarez was taken to Shattuck Hospital, according to the federal government. Federal officials said they took him to the hospital with possible pneumonia, and he was treated for heart and respiratory conditions.
At 6 p.m., Shattuck called 911, according to Boston EMS. That same night, according to federal officials, the consul of the Dominican Republic, and ICE, an ambulance took him to Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain, and then to Brigham and Women’s, where he died three days later.
The cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to the state medical examiner.
Jail officials say they are committed to giving all inmates good care.
“It’s in our best interest that they get attended to, from a humanistic and from a legal standpoint,’’ said Gerry Walsh, a deputy superintendent.
Tavarez’s relatives in New York, Providence, and Florida are awaiting answers. The cause of death released last week left them wondering about the care he received inside the jail and whether his death might have been prevented.
“They’re going to have to check more details than this,’’ said his niece, Jennifer Lopez, who lives in the Bronx, where Tavarez was buried. “We’re not satisfied with what they’re telling us.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/06/new_20m_building_8_saw_inmate_deaths_despite_precautions/------------------------------
This is a response from one of the members of the MA End the Odds Coalition:
This story is more than sad. I remember reading about the facility just before it was to have opened several years ago as a women's jail. Its flawed design was led and defended by correctional folk. All the 'stakeholders' (sic) knew at the time it was being built and upon its completion that the design presented serious safety concerns. No one was has been held accountable. The construction of the facility was pushed by Rep Kay Khan who wanted a "gender- responsive" jail for women- all in the name of equity. Khan and other 'progressive' female legislators like Liz Malia and Ruth Balser, file bills each session for more jails to house women.
Please 'google' the earlier coverage of the construction/design- led by Sheriff Andrea Cabral's predecessors. Cabral wants still more cells to house, in her own words, "the Hand That Rocks the Cradle: The Rise of the Female Offender."
I believe that Francie Latour of the Boston Globe covered the issue of the building that is once again in the news. She also covered (then Nebraska Correction Commissioner) Harold Clarke's audit of Suffolk County HoC and jail for the American Correctional Association. He gave Suffolk County a glowing review back then. Perhaps that is why he was selected as DOC Commissioner three years ago. He was known to be a 'team player.' Now Clarke is president of the ACA and has implemented a policy change that places county correctional healthcare audits under the ACA. ACA standards are the weakest of most every inspectional entity.
