[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H2781-H2782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO THE CORRECTIONAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM CREATED BY BAYSTATE 
               HEALTH SYSTEM, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

  (Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, this is National Hospital 
Week, when communities across the country celebrate the people that 
make hospitals the special places they are. This year's theme sums it 
up nicely, Touching the Future With Care. It recognizes the health care 
workers, volunteers, and other health professionals who are there 24 
hours a day, 365 days

[[Page H2782]]

a year curing and caring for their neighbors who need them.
  An example of this dedication is the Correctional Health Care Program 
created by Baystate Health Systems of Springfield, Massachusetts. The 
program won the National Hospital Association's prestigious NOVA award, 
which recognizes hospitals' innovative and collaborative efforts to 
improve the health care of their communities.
  The Correctional Health Care Program is a joint effort by Baystate 
Health Systems and the Hampden County Correction Center to improve the 
state of inmate health care. Inmates serve an average of 14 months and 
then return to the community with whatever disease or problems they had 
when they entered. Failing to improve this health care, puts the 
inmates, their families, and the public at risk once they are released.
  Baystate and Hampden County saw this public health care opportunity 
and developed a model which has had amazing results. Recurrence of 
incarceration at the Hampden County Correctional Center is only 4 
percent, dramatically below the national average of 40 percent. Program 
supporters say this extremely low rate is a direct result of 
correctional health care programs like this.
  The program gives inmates the chance to control their own health, 
helps them gain an element of self-respect and, in most cases, keeps 
them from returning to a life of crime in jail. In addition, it helps 
save public health dollars while fighting the spread of communicable 
diseases.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Baystate Health Care System and the 
Hampden County Correctional Facility for this award-winning program.

                          ____________________