Health Care Facts

The Department’s Office of Health Services (OHS) coordinates the planning, implementation and provision of health care services at major institutions statewide. OHS is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health Services, and includes staff to oversee each major health services discipline/area (clinical, nursing, pharmacy, mental health, dental, and administration/programs).

Nurse recording inmate's vital signs.

DOC employs a managed care model to coordinate the provision of care and keep health care costs under control. All inmates are screened at a reception center after intake from the county jail. After this process is completed, inmates are assigned to a “permanent” institution based on their medical and mental health needs and security requirements (inmates are often moved numerous times during incarceration).

Within each major correctional institution, OHS provides primary care using a core staff of clinicians (physicians, ARNPs, etc.) nurses, mental health and dental professionals and administrators. Services include: health education, sick call, periodic screenings, chronic illness clinics, and infirmary care. The health services team provides medical care in the dorms for inmates who are in confinement. Each health services unit also has a basic emergency room.

OHS maintains three regional pharmacies and a pharmacy at the prison hospital at Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler. Most medications are purchased through the Minnesota Multi-State Contracting Alliance for Pharmacy (MMCAP). The regional pharmacies fill orders from the institutions, and nurses distribute the drugs from a secure medication room at each institution. Repackaging is handled through an interagency agreement with the Department of Health.

Dentist and dental assistant perform exam.

The Department contracts with more than 200 vendors to provide health care goods and services. This includes hospitals and specialty physicians and ancillary services such as radiology, labs, pathology, dialysis, physical and respiratory therapy, as well as temporary staffing agencies and locum tenens. OHS contracts with specialists to provide secondary care at outpatient clinics at Reception Centers whenever possible (which saves transport and security costs). In addition to the prison hospital at Reception and Medical Center, the Department has secure hospital units at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville and Kendall Hospital in Miami.

All specialty and hospital care must be approved by the Department’s Utilization Management team. UM nurses and physicians review all requests, ensure only clinically appropriate care is provided, and oversee hospital admissions and discharges.

Psychologist conducting mental health interview.

The Department’s Office of Health Services recently implemented a statewide health care privatization initiative that allows DOC to provide care more efficiently.

On December 18, 2012, the Department and Wexford Health Sources executed a five-year contract for the provision of comprehensive health care services at nine institutions in South Florida. The following institutions have transitioned to Wexford:

Hardee, DeSoto Annex, Charlotte, Martin, Okeechobee, South Florida Reception Center, Everglades, Dade and Homestead

The Department had previously executed a contract with Corizon, Inc. on October 15, 2012, for the provision of comprehensive health care services at forty-one institutions in Northern and Central Florida. However, on December 4, 2012, the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court issued a ruling that prohibited the Department from implementing the contract with Corizon, Inc. Therefore, health services outsourcing transition activities in Northern and Central Florida have been placed on hold, pending appeal. The Department will continue to provide health care services in these areas until this issue is resolved.