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Prison board to further review suicide prevention policy

By Patty Yauger pyauger@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

A policy initiated last month by the Fayette County Prison Board to allow additional medical personnel to assess and downgrade inmates placed in suicide prevention care, is now on hold until the matter can be more thoroughly reviewed.

In unanimous action of the members present at the Wednesday meeting, the board agreed not to implement a revised suicide prevention policy after learning from Lisa Ferris,executive director of the county behavioral health administration (FCBHA), that it does not meet the SPHS Behavioral Health criteria.

SPHS is the provider of psychiatric services at the prison.

“Our office is not in support of the (July) policy approved by the prison board, nor is SPHS,” said Ferris. “Over the past several months we have been trying to address the suicide watch issue. However, (the July policy) is not in the best interest of the county.”

Last month, following a detailed presentation by Kate Vozar, Fayette County problem solving court manager/liaison, the prison board moved to allow qualified mental health providers to review and apply needed changes for those at the first level of suicide prevention.

Vozar had requested that a certified registered nurse practitioner (CRNP) and a licensed mental health professional be permitted to undertake the same duties as the prison psychiatrist.

Suicide Prevention Grade 1 (SPG1), said Vozar at the July meeting, is a preliminary measure taken when inmates who exhibit possible suicide or self-injury tendencies are taken into the prison.

If found to exhibit the tendencies, precautionary measures are taken, including being placed in an area where regularly scheduled, documented observations are made.

With the psychiatrist only on-site for four hours each week, Vozar said that it made it nearly impossible for him to review the documentation, take the necessary steps to downgrade those placed in protective care and counsel those inmates in need of his services.

Ferris, meanwhile, urged the board to return to the prior policy until the committee tasked with reviewing the prison’s behavioral health needs has the opportunity to conduct a more in-depth study.

“We are looking to recruit another doctor and increase the hours,” she said. “We are also looking to recruit a CRNP for a Saturday shift, but it is difficult.

“I know that this is an issue, but let (the committee) go back to work and figure this out.”

Board members, including Sheriff Gary Brownfield, acting Controller Jeanine Wrona, District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. and Commissioners Vince Zapotosky and Al Ambrosini agreed to stay the new policy until a meeting is held to further discuss the issue.

Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink was absent from the meeting.

In other unrelated action, the board also conducted the following business:

n Learned the current prison population includes 179 male and 39 female inmates with two male inmates housed in the Greene County Prison.

n Terminated an unidentified full-time correction officer and hired Clyde Branson, a current part time employee, to fill the vacancy at an hourly salary of $18.45.

n Modified the hourly salary of correction officer Henry Cumberland to $18.45. Human Resource Department director Denise Stepanik requested the modification following last month’s meeting when the board approved an incorrect salary.

n Agreed to a request by Uniontown resident Jon Jones to offer voter registration information to inmates eligible to vote.

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