Deal
for nurses at jail OK'd
Mar. 27, 2003
ELIZABETH
COOPER
Observer-Dispatch
The
Oneida County Board of Legislators Wednesday approved
funds for the temporary hiring of nurses at the Oneida
County Correctional Facility.
The
jail's medical facility, which is mandated by the state
to have six full-time nurses and a supervisor, is operating
with only a nursing supervisor and two part-time nurses.
"It's
an urgent situation," Undersheriff Peter Paravati
told the Legislature's Ways and Means Committee, which,
along with the Courts and Law Committee, had to approve
the $99,840 allocation before it came to the legislature.
"We have a skeleton crew."
The
County Sheriff's Department will temporarily hire three
nurses from the Sibley Nursing Personnel Service Inc.
"When
the sheriff explained the situation, we needed to do
something as soon as possible," said Neil Angell,
R-4, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee.
Paravati
said the jail has had difficulty retaining its nursing
staff because the salary offered by the county is not
competitive. He said he would like to see the pay scale
improve, adding that the last registered nurse to leave
had taken a job paying $20,000 a year more than the
jail.
The
Sibley nurses will work at the jail for 26 weeks (3,120
hours) at a rate of $32 per hour. Full-time nurses hired
by the jail are paid $29,383, or $14.12 an hour, plus
benefits, to start. Paravati said he hopes to hire three
full-time nurses.
Paravati
explained that keeping prisoners well is an important
public health concern. Each person who passes through
the county system is given a physical, and a range of
illnesses often are detected at that time.
"It's
often people who are not taking care of themselves,"
he said of the inmates. "They may have HIV, TB,
diabetes, heart disease, alcohol and substance abuse
problems. We need to care for them and prevent spreading
in jail and when they're back in the community."
Other
business at the meeting included the approval of resolutions:
-
To express concern, prayers and support for U.S. troops
in Iraq and elsewhere.
-
To approve appointments to the County Fire Advisory
Board and the Arson Task Force.
-
To transfer $25,000 to the Oneida County Air Show
to cover a present shortage.
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