Implementing a human rights practice of correctional medicine inside New York City jails

The Bureau of Correctional Health Services (CHS) of the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is responsible for all aspects of health care in the NYC jail system. In 2012, CHS adopted a framework for health care that includes three equally important aims; patient safety, population health and human rights. The initial assessment of human rights concerns led CHS to determine that dual loyalty is a pressing issue for both providers and patients they care for. CHS determined that many of these and other human rights challenges are concentrated around the issues of solitary confinement and reporting of patient abuse. CHS has begun to operationalize training for all heath staff around these issues, as well as created new reporting structures designed to relieve staff of some of the pressures they have reported. These efforts to operationalize human rights concerns in the CHS mission are only beginning and are being met with mixed responses. Overall, learning about human rights and integrating these lessons into a correctional health system is a challenging endeavor but completely necessary for the proper delivery of care.