Texas jail gets its own new dialysis center

Dallas County jail gets new dialysis center for sick inmates
4:03 PM Thu, Dec 04, 2008

In late 2006, the feds called the Dallas County jail system a dangerous place, rife with indifference to human suffering, where some inmates emerged dead or seriously injured.

Today, the jails have their own kidney dialysis center. How far we've come.

Here are details as explained by Kim Leach, the sheriff's spokeswoman:

The new kidney dialysis center is now open and fully operational inside the Dallas County Jail. The center will provide quality medical care for seriously ill patients who are incarcerated while also saving the county and the Sheriff's Department time and money.

The center is the result of a joint partnership between the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and Parkland Health & Hospital System.

Previously, DSO staff transported on average 9 to 12 patients to the hospital approximately 3 times a week for dialysis. The treatment required extensive planning and scheduling, additional manpower to take the patient/inmate to and from the hospital, plus transportation costs.

Sheriff Lupe Valdez says, "The new dialysis center will provide much needed critical, medical care to incarcerated patients who need it and it will be done in the most effective and efficient way."

The dialysis unit is located in the West Tower and will be staffed by qualified medical personnel who will monitor patients during weekly treatments. Up to 5 patients will be able to undergo dialysis at one time and a physician will visit patients at the center once a week.

http://tinyurl.com/66x6pc

And here's a photo of the jail's dialysis unit:

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/dialysis6_EDC1510.html

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That's some deterrent against escaping from jail. The inmate with ESRD knows that if he escaped from jail and went on the lam, he couldn't survive long without dialysis. He might as well stay in jail and get dialyzed at state expense (which probably includes free meds we've come to know and love too: Zemplar, Epogen, etc.)
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