
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 17, 1995                   TAG: 9509180071
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

PRISON DIALYSIS UNIT FACES PROBE

State officials have requested an outside probe of a prison dialysis unit where eight confirmed inmate deaths have occurred in the past year.

Amy Miller, a Virginia Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said the department has asked the private company that runs the dialysis unit to hire the independent auditors.

She said the department does not believe there is any evidence to suggest negligence or error in the treatment provided at the Greensville Correctional Center facility.

Dialysis and other medical care at Greensville is provided by Correctional Medical Systems, a subsidiary of ARA Health Services Inc. of St. Louis, Mo.

In recent weeks, inmates at Greensville and their families have said that, after relatively few deaths in recent years, as many as 10 patients in the unit have died in the past year. Officials confirm eight deaths. There are roughly 20 dialysis patients at Greensville.

Dialysis treatment is needed by patients in end-stage kidney failure, when about 95 percent of kidney function has been lost. The equipment performs jobs normally done by the kidney, including removing waste, salt and extra water in the body and keeping a safe level of certain chemicals in the blood.

Individuals on dialysis are already seriously ill, but those sent to Greensville by the Department of Corrections are the most seriously ill among them. The Jarratt prison also has the state's only prison hospital accredited by The National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

Inmate advocates were pleased about the review.

``I would welcome any audit that has integrity,'' said Mason G. Nottingham, of Virginia Citizens United for the Reform of Errants.

``CURE believes that the Department of Corrections is genuinely concerned, and hope they will be aggressive and take care of any problems'' that may be turned up, he said.

Dr. Ronald Mark Shansky, a prison health consultant and inspector from Chicago, said the number of deaths was high enough to call for an independent review.

The number of deaths could be a statistical anomaly, he said, ``but it needs to be investigated - that's the bottom line.''

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB