Self-Surrender Checklist: Medical Issues

Every federal prison is like a fully-contained city. Administrators provide those in the population with all the amenities required by law, including medical care. Although I’ve been locked in prisons of every security level since 1987, I’ve been blessed with excellent health. But I’ve written the stories of hundreds of other prisoners, and the length of time I’ve served qualifies me to provide a macro perspective for readers who have some interest in the access federal prisoners have to health care.

Prisoners may sign up for sick-call services. Currently I’m confined in the federal prison camp in Taft, California. The sick-call procedures here are similar to the sick-call procedures I’ve known in every prison where I’ve been held.

Essentially, if a prisoner feels ill or thinks that he needs medical attention, the protocol is for him to report to the medical clinic for sick call. It is held between 7:30 and 8:00 each weekday morning.

At sick call a nurse will ask the prisoner his symptoms. Then, ordinarily, the nurse will schedule the prisoner for an appointment either later that day or within the next few days. When the prisoner reports for his appointment, the nurse will perform her diagnostic checkup and then do her best to provide treatment. More frequently than not, the treatment is limited to ibuprofen. I purchase my own ibuprofen from the commissary so that i can avoid sick call procedures.

Some prisoners have more serious health complications. For those with chronic care needs, the nurse or doctor will establish a protocol. Those who are surrendering to federal prison may want to ensure that their doctor provides sufficient documentation to verify all treatment needs. That documentation doesn’t guarantee that the prison health-service provider will treat the prisoner in the way he wants, but he can expect the prison system will provide the minimal amount of treatment required by law.

Those prisoners who have serious medical complications may serve their sentence in a medical facility. The federal prison system operates several medical facilities. Some of those facilities have an affiliation with excellent outside medical institutions, like the Mayo clinic. I’ve spoken with prisoners who served their sentences in prison hospitals in Springfield, Rochester, and Butner; each of them raved about the outstanding medical treatment they received.

Obviously, many prisoners suffer from depression. My advice to such prisoners is to find strength from within rather than to seek it through prescription medication. Those who read my BOOKS will find the strategies I’ve relied upon to carry me through thousands of days of confinement. I’m convinced they can help any prisoner about to encounter a federal prison term.

As far as medical issues are concerned for federal prisoners, though, it’s best to expect administrators to provide the minimal amount of medical attention required by law, but not much more.