Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Grits for Breakfast

Criminal Law

: Grits for Breakfast

How will UTMB layoffs affect prison healthcare?

As Galveston Island continues to dig itself out from the refuse, has anyone heard what effect Hurricane Ike has had on medical care delivery in Texas prisons? Recent news of up to 4,000 proposed layoffs makes me think the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston must be struggling to meet its contractual obligations for providing prisoner healthcare after the big storm destroyed more than $700 million dollars worth of facilities.By contract, essentially acting as a capitated HMO, UTMB-Galveston provides medical care for 80% of prisoners in the state, much of it via "telemedicine" where inmates are seen via teleconferencing link by doctors in Galveston. The Texas Tech medical school handles the other 20%. But with Galveston Island devastated and UT's facilities there in tatters, UTMB just announced widespread layoffs, reports the Houston Chronicle:A day after elected officials claimed they had helped avert a planned layoff of thousands of employees at the University of Texas Medical Branch, the interim chancellor of the UT System said a "significant" portion of workers will lose their jobs...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 09, 2008 (boomark / email).