You asked about the Department of Correction's hospice programs, how many inmates receive hospice care, and how many inmates are infirm or have a terminal illness.

SUMMARY

The Department of Correction (DOC) operates hospice programs at three correctional institutions: MacDougall-Walker, Osborn, and York. The hospices provides medical treatment; social work services; and pastoral, palliative, and bereavement care. York also has comfort pet visits. Inmates volunteer at the hospices.

DOC's website states, “It is the philosophy of the Connecticut Department of Correction Hospice Program, through an Interdisciplinary Team approach, to provide twenty-four hour compassionate, quality end-of-life care to terminally ill inmates remanded to the Department of Correction and to view their families and/or those emotionally connected to them as part of the unit of care. This shall be accomplished in a safe, secure manner.”

According to DOC, 18 inmates died in hospice care from the beginning of 2006 through late November 2008. DOC stated that the number of inmates receiving hospice care varies widely. DOC did not provide information on the average age of inmates receiving care but stated that inmates are generally younger, under 50, and tend to be AIDS and cancer victims.

We used two sources to determine the number of infirm or terminally ill inmates. First, DOC reported that 10 inmates (nine males and one female) had infirmities that required nursing home level medical care at the end of October.

The second measure of inmates' health is the medical scores assigned to inmates. Under DOC classification procedures, an inmate receives a medical score of one to five. A medical score of five means, “These individuals demonstrate severely limited physical capacity or acute or chronic illness, disease, or disorder.  These individuals may require assistance with daily living, are in need of 24-hour nursing supervision, may need intravenous therapy for a prolonged or intermittent period, or need permanent infirmary care equivalent to a long-term care facility for skilled care.” Using the database of DOC information maintained by the Office of Fiscal Analysis, there were 42 inmates (40 male and two female) on October 1, 2008 with a medical score of five.

HOSPICE STATISTICS

According to DOC, 18 inmates died in hospice between early 2006 and late November 2008: three in 2006, six in 2007, and nine so far in 2008. Of these inmates, (1) 14 were male and four female and (2) eight were white, five black, and five Hispanic.

DOC tracks inmates by their controlling offense, the most serious offense for which an inmate is incarcerated. Table 1 shows the controlling offenses of 15 of these inmates. For the remaining three inmates the controlling offense was unclear but appears to be violation of probation for two inmates and operating under the influence for one inmate.

DOC provided some information characterizing the illness leading to the deaths of most of these inmates. Five inmates had cancer, including three lung cancer. For other inmates, DOC specified illnesses that were gastrointestinal (one inmate), hepatic (related to the liver) (two inmates), hepatorenal (related to the liver or kidneys) (one inmate), renal (kidneys) (one inmate), and respiratory (one inmate). Of the remaining seven inmates, four were listed as “end stage” but their illness is unclear from the information provided and three were listed as terminal but their specific illnesses were not specified.

INMATES CLASSIFIED WITH HIGHEST MEDICAL SCORE

Using the DOC database maintained by the Office of Fiscal Analysis, we found a total of 42 inmates (2 females and 40 males) on October 1, 2008 with a medical score of 5. 

Table 2 displays the number of female inmates on October 1, 2008 with a medical score of 5 broken down by age and controlling offense.

Table 3 displays the number of male inmates on October 1, 2008 with a medical score of 5 broken down by controlling offense and age.

Table 3: -Continued-

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