Policy Text
CORRECTIONAL SERVICES Page 1 of 4 10/03 (REV 5/18)
MJ/RCCC
OPERATIONS ORDER
Healthcare Treatment Access
The purpose of this Order is to standardize the procedures for providing emergency and
non-emergency medical servic es to prisoners within the Main Jail and the Rio
Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC).
I. Policy
Prisoner health complaints shall be solicited on a daily basis, acted upon by trained health
personnel, and followed by approp riate triage and treatment by qualified health personnel.
Prisoners who wish to obtain medi cal treatment from private hea lth providers may do so
at his/her own expense and are s ubject to the limitations and r equirement of this order.
II. Availability of Healthcare Treatment
A. Correctional Health Services (CHS) medical staff shall be on duty at all
times at both facilities.
1. Jail Psychiatric Services (JPS) staff shall be on duty at al l times at
the Main Jail .
2. JPS staff is available at RCCC from 0730-1730 hours seven days a
week.
B. If an urgent or emergency prisoner health care need arises, custody staff
shall immediately contact CHS and/or JPS staff.
C. Prisoners experiencing acut e health care problems on weekend s, holidays
and weekdays after the completion of Nurse's Call and Doctor's Call shall
make a verbal request to the nur se at the next scheduled pill c all.
D. Custody staff shall not attemp t to determine whether a priso ner needs
health care, and shall contact CHS medical staff to evaluate an yone who
may need immediate medical care.
III. Access to Treatment
A. Prisoners requesting routine, non-emergency medical attentio n shall sign
the "Nurse's Call List" lo cated in all housing areas.
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MJ/RCCC B. Prisoners requesting dental or mental health care shall fill o u t t h e
appropriate request form and turn it in according to procedures established
by CHS.
C. CHS or JPS shall advise housing unit control staff when a pr isoner is
needed for an appointment.
1. Housing unit staff shall make the necessary computer and log book
entries.
2. If necessary, the prisoner will be escorted to the appointme nt and
custody staff shall provide for any security concerns.
D. Any medical, mental health or dental visit initiated by a pr isoner shall be
paid for by the prisoner from his/her personal custody account. This section
shall be managed accordi ng to Penal Code 4011.2.
1. The fee shall be in the amoun t of three dollars ($ 3.00).
2. If the prisoner has no money in his/her account, the fee for the visit
will be waived. A prisoner shall not be denied medical care be cause
of a lack of funds in his/her account.
3. Medical staff may waive the fee for any prisoner initiated t reatment
and shall waive the fee in any life- threatening or emergency
situation, defined as those health services required for allevi ation of
severe pain or for immediate diagnosis and treatment of unfores een
medical conditions that if not i mmediately diagnosed and treate d
could lead to dis ability or death.
a. Additional types of services excluded from fees may include
communicable disease testing or treatment, all services
related to pregnancy, and initia l mental health evaluations.
4. All moneys received pursuant to this section shall be transf erred to
the county general fund.
IV. Nurse’s Call
A. Nurse’s Call shall be conduc ted in the appropriate area of e ach housing
unit; however those prisoners requiring more extensive medical attention
may be scheduled for additional tr eatment in the outpatient med ical unit.
B. Housing unit staff shall esco rt and stand by with certain pr isoners at either
the nurses or doctors request or when, in custody staff’s deter mination, it is
necessary for safety and/or security reasons.
1. Designated custody staff may be assigned to supervise Nurse’ s Call.
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MJ/RCCC 2. Custody staff assigned to this duty is responsible for perio dically
checking emergency equipment in the nurses’ stations and to coordinate prisoner movement with housing unit staff.
C. The schedule for Nurse's Call shall be established by CHS st aff. Prisoners
shall be scheduled for Nurse's Call in the computer and at the appropriate
time, a list will be generated for housing unit staff.
D. Nurse Call shall be used to pre-screen prisoners who need fu rther medical
attention from a doctor. Nurses shall utilize the triage proce ss to organize
and sort prisoners according to t he severity of his/her problem s.
E. If a prisoner is scheduled for court at the same time he/she is scheduled for
Nurse's Call, the prisoner shall be seen by the nurse after the conclusion of
the court appearance or at the next Nurse’s Call.
F. Nurse's Call shall take pre cedence over other scheduled even ts that may
include church services, outdoor recreation, educational servic es, etc.
V. Doctor’s Call
A. Prisoners referred to the doctor shall be notified, staged a nd treated in the
same manner as for Nurse's Call.
VI. Prisoner Refusal
A. Medical appointments are sc