OPP fails health care standard
Orleans Parish jail doesn’t meet accreditation standards
by Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune
Sunday May 18, 2008, 9:31 PM
The Orleans Parish jail facilities don’t meet accreditation standards set by a nonprofit correctional health organization, which has pointed out both a lack of sufficient mental health counselors and failure to complete initial health examinations within the required time period.
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care reviewed the facilities and practices last fall and pinpointed needed improvements before the jail can reclaim accreditation, first awarded in 1993 when the jail was run by former Sheriff Charles Foti.
“We certainly want to get it,” Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who runs the jail, said this week. “Although we’ve been through a lot, we are still providing great quality health care that exceeds community standards.”
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