Inmates Benefit from Top Medical Services

The Medical Unit of the Department of Correctional Services provides a wide range of professional services for those incarcerated – from Obstetrics to the pregnant females to Paediatrics to the new born.

The prison population ranges in age from one-day-old to those in their 80s. In providing curative services, the Unit has partnered with NOVA University, Health through Walls, Beulah Baptist Church, Prison Fellowship International/Jamaica, Stand up for Jamaica and The European Union. These organisations have assisted by providing services at Health Fairs for the inmates and employing staff to serve in the Correctional Centres.

Preventative services and early detection services are offered in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Stand Up for Jamaica and other external stakeholders.

The HIV/AIDS programme in the Adult Correctional Facilities offers HIV testing to all adult admissions and access to anti-retroviral therapy, if needed. New admissions are assessed by the medical staff and referred for specialist services if needed at the closest hospital to the Correctional Centre at which the inmate is located. The Ministry of Health provides all anti-retroviral medication free of cost to the Department of Correctional Services.

One of the great supporters of the Department of Correctional Services is Food for the Poor. This organization has donated hospital beds, crutches, wheelchairs, walkers and medication valued at millions of dollars over the years.

Currently, the Medical Unit is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify and release inmates with mental illness who have been incarcerated for extended periods.

Though faced with an ever shrinking budget and increased prices, the Medical Unit of the Department of Correctional Services continues to strive to serve and protect those under its care.