DATE: Saturday, August 30, 1997             TAG: 9708300808

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MAPLE                             LENGTH:   71 lines

HEALTH FAIR AIMS TO HELP INMATES HELP THEMSELVES

Shortly after inmate Clifton Worsley finished singing an original song titled ``I Got Joy,'' he stepped over to a nurse to have his blood pressure checked.

It wasn't because of stage fright. Worsley was a participant in the third annual health fair at the Currituck Correctional Center on Thursday. The medium-security prison is the only one among 10 prisons in northeastern North Carolina to have such a health fair.

``It's a good thing to have something like this,'' said Worsley, whose muscled body bulges under his T-shirt. His health seemed fine. ``I try to take good care of myself, but I learned a lot about ulcers and how to lift things without hurting my back.''

Guards and inmates sat in the prison's activity center and listened to health experts speak on such topics as high blood pressure, ulcers, sexually transmitted diseases and the benefits of exercise. There was an occasional break to hear an inmate sing or read poetry. Drinks and snacks were available. After the talks, inmates filed to the health stations to get blood pressure checks, and height and weight measurements.

``The goal is to provide education, increase awareness and, hopefully, it will lead to disease prevention,'' said Elaina Laurick, a registered nurse with the Currituck prison. ``It was not mandatory, but just about every guy we have here came out.''

The Currituck prison houses about 85 inmates. Laurick is there daily to treat everything, including chronic diseases such as diabetes.

``A lot of these guys say they feel healthier than they were on the street,'' Laurick said.

The fair is part of a rapidly advancing trend to make inmates more responsible for their own health.

``We've gone from health care on demand to a more managed system,'' said Karan Dillow, Eastern Area nursing supervisor for the North Carolina Department of Corrections.

Between 1994 and 1997, the number of inmates in North Carolina increased from 18,000 to 29,000, causing a sharp rise in prison health care costs, Dillow said.

Prison health officials and lawmakers implemented several policies to decrease medical expenses.

As of Aug. 1, law requires an inmate to pay $3 for a sick call and $5 if he insists his condition is an emergency and must go to a doctor. Medicine is still free.

``For every dollar they pay, that's one less dollar from the taxpayer,'' said Ernest R. Sutton, superintendent of the Currituck Correctional Center.

Other changes:

Since January 1995 inmates have been required to make an appointment for sick call.

Officials negotiated discounts from preferred health care providers.

Any expensive procedure such as surgery or a CAT scan has to pass through an extensive preview first.

``Sick calls used to be a great source of manipulation for inmates to get out of all sorts of things,'' Dillow said. ``Now we're making inmates more responsible for their actions.''

The efforts appear to be working.

In 1994, the 10 hospitals in Dillow's district reported 2,564 sick calls per month, which is about 1 1/2 sick calls per inmate. The rate dropped two years later to 2,473 calls per month, or one sick call per month.

One prison in the Eastern District reported an average of 500 inmates a month making routine sick calls. Since the inmate cost-sharing law took effect, that same prison has reported only 50 sick calls in August.

Near the end of the health fair, at least three dozen inmates remained in the building, chatting with health care specialists, reading pamphlets and having their blood pressure and cholesterol checked. Sutton mingled with them.

``There is a genuine interest from the inmates,'' Sutton said. ``This is cost-efficient. The more educated an inmate can get, the less it costs for health care.''

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