Correctional Facility to Open Healthcare Clinic

University Medical Center, the County of El Paso and the West Texas Community Supervision and Corrections Department (West Texas CSCD) have joined forces to form a unique partnership that brings healthcare services to residents of the department’s West Texas Behavioral Health Residential Treatment Center. The new clinic will officially open following a ribbon cutting ceremony at the center at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at the West Texas Behavioral Health Residential Treatment Center at 3700 Mattox Street.

The West Texas Behavioral Health Residential Treatment Center is a correctional living facility that houses and treats 120 males and 20 females for substance abuse violations. UMC, through its Neighborhood Healthcare Centers, will now have a presence in the facility. The goal of this new partnership is to improve the overall health of center residents and get them on the road to a full recovery sooner. The West Texas Community Supervision and Corrections Department is hoping to make the facility an overall treatment facility instead of just a correctional facility.

“The West Texas Behavioral Health Residential Treatment Center promotes public safety by expanding and enhancing comprehensive treatment services that target criminogenic factors. The newly implemented Integrated Model emphasizes the importance of focusing equally on cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and now medical interventions that are evidence-based practices in reducing recidivism,” said Maggie Morales-Aina, Director of the Corrections Department.

The center’s UMC clinic will be staffed by a Nurse Practitioner and two Medical Assistants who will provide triage, primary care, lab draws, prescriptions and follow-up care. The benefits of offering healthcare services to residents of the center include:

• Consistent delivery of primary healthcare.
• Establishment of a medical home - residents will be treated in a familiar environment and can build a trusting relationship with the Nurse Practitioner who oversees and coordinates all of their healthcare needs. Should the patient need medical treatment after being released by from the facility, his/her medical history will be available through electronic medical record that can be access by providers at all UMC facilities.
• Reduction in transportation and staffing costs for the Corrections Department - officers will have a much reduced need to transport residents to UMC’s Emergency Department.
• Reduction in the potential for escapes during transport.
• Reduction in UMC ER visits for primary care needs.
• Better control of medication distribution - UMC will provide special training to correctional staff on how to distribute medication to residents after normal clinic hours and the possible side effects associated with certain medications.