Twistin' The 4th Away!
' Robert Hearn and Inez Jone&.do the twist at a recent talent show at TUrner Rest Home. The pro
gram was part of the facility's 4th of July celebration. The event Included songs, poems, jokes
and a mini fashion show as well as the dancing.
Aldermen voice support From Page A1
Photo by Mike Cunningham
from Kimbcrly Park Terrace housing
development voiced the first and only
opposition to the project.
Johnnie Mae Ingram, president
of the development's resident's
association, told aldermen the pro
posed Kennerly Street project
would amount to putting an apart
ment complex "right on top of us."
"We have enough apartments
^ there," she added. "The apartments
are just taking over."
Ms. Ingram said the project
could displace the basketball court
in the neighborhood and leave the
2,000 children in the area with no
place for recrcation.
Aldermen were outraged that the
project had been discussed so much
and had gotten so far in the process
without city staff advising Kimberly
Park's residents of the company's
proposal. The board had decided to
continue the matter and vote on it
during Monday's meeting but
instead it unanimously accepted
M.B. Corporation's withdrawal of
both projects.
Board delays action From Page A1
family care homes. That require
ment was included in a text amend
ment and adopted by the city in
1982, thus prohibiting one family
care home from locating within one
half-mile of an existing facility. No
opposition was heard at public hear
ings on the text amendment.
While the city-county planning
staff agreed that Bethabara Hills
"has an usual set of circumstances
that warrants eliminating the half
mile spacing requirement in that:
they are isolated from the surround
ing residential area; they have suffi
cient land to construct another facil
? ? ? ? ^ ? ? ?
lty; and their proximity to the
Enrichment Center contributes to
the suitability of the site for a fami
ly care home." they recommended
that the board deny Mr. Lyon's
request.
"... Eliminating the one-half
mile spacing requirement for all
family care homes could have a
negative effect if applied on a city
wide basis," City Planner Jim
Yarbrough told the aldermen.
"Neighborhoods would not be pro
vided protection against overcrowd
ing, dominance of family care
homes, potential decrease in proper
ty values and loss of residential
character. In addition, the purpose
of integrating family care homes
into normal residential environ
ments would be lost if (they) were
permitted to cluster in residential
areas."
Bethabara Hill residents dis
agreed.
Health care in prisons is a concern?From p^ai
five county-employed physician
assistants (P.A.'s), under the direct
supervision of health center doc
tors which also serve on the facul
ty at Bowman Gray, work from 8
a.m., to 2:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday at the jail.
"We're the primary people the
inmates 'see for health care," said
?terry Hopping, Senior P. A. of the
jail and the health center. "We do
the first screening and evaluate
any future problems, and we can
refer them to other sources or treat
them as we see fit."
Physician assistants are indi
viduals who have studied
medicine, having received a bach
elor's degree and the equivalent of
a masters, Mr. Hopping explained.
In addition, P.A.'s arc the only
group of medical practitioners that
are required to undergo periodic
recertification and retaking of
their -exam. The P.A.'s who care
for the inmates at the county jail
are under the direct supervision of
the practicing physicians at
Reynolds Heath Care Center. All
physician assistants' work is
supervised, although not directly,
by a doctor.
"About 90 percent of what
walks into a physician's office can
be handled by a physician exten
der," Mr. Hopping said.
The number of patients that
Mr. Hopping or one of his col
leagues sees depends upon the
number of inmates in the jail. Cur
rently, the county facility averages
314 to 320 prisoners. About half
of that number arc seen by a
^pftysician assistant during an aver
age day, Mr. Hopping said.
Because the prisoners arc rela
tively young, ranging from 19 to
35, they are fairly healthy, he
added. Heart disease, hyperten
sion and diabetes arc major health
problems the physician assistants
often treat, Mr. Hopping said.
; "There's also colds, athlete's
foot, headaches and there's a lot of
dental problems," he said. "About
20 percent of what we see is den
tal. (Which doesn't hold true with
the general population but) is in
line with what we're finding out
from other correctional facilities."
With the exception of emer
gencies, all inmate requests for
medical attention must go through
a physician assistant, Mr. Hopping
said. There have been no major
contagious diseases passed from
inmate to inmate, he added, unlike
outbreaks of AIDS (Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
and Tuberculosis reported in soma
of the larger corrcctional facilities.
We do see a number of people
wnh athlete's foot, ,L he said. "If
someone comes in and they don't
? have it they'll get it. There is all
kinds of lice. If we find one indi
vidual in the cell block with lice,
we'll treat the whole block."
What Dr. Chandler calls the
best book, and one of a handful,
on prison medical care notes that
the majority ?>f inmate ailments
are minor ones.
"The medical problems are, for
the most part, quite ordinary and
similar to those found in military
recruits, but the circumstances_
force that practitioner to live at
wit's end," wrote Dr. Chandler in a
review of ''Care 'Mid Ptmishment:
The Dilemmas of Prison
Medicine," by Curtis Prout and
Robert N. Ross.
"Before the prison uprisings of
the early 1970s, prison medicine
was largely a neglected field. The
recognition of medical conditions
in prisons and jails has come from
the zealous pen of the reformers,
from news accounts of riots that
temporarily inflame popular sym
pathies for the poorly treated
inmates. . . . But, for the most
part, the general population has
preferred to ignore prison
medicine."
"Some health problems are
self-imposed ones because of the
use of drugs and alcohol," Dr.
Chandler said. "Inattention to sim
ple rules of health . . . causes
problems that could be prevent
ed."
The doctor has toured other
county jail facilities and found
that the health care provided in
Forsyth is comparable and some
times far exceeds the level of care
given to some prisoners. More
than $200 million was spent by
states to maintain inmates' health,
according to a 1980 survey by the
Associated Press. Estimates say
this year's health care costs will
skyrocket to about $1 billion. The
average state spends $3.57 per
day, per inmate for health care.
The quality of service is bound
to improve as professional care
givers' attitudes toward inmates
becomes more objective, Dr.
Chandler said.
"The professional who delivers
care in the prison or jail system
has to be certain his or her attitude
is correct," he explained. "There is
a certain ambivalence, that is
paradox at the most, you're treat
ing a populace that is being pun
ished because of something
they've done.
"We have to impose the same
standard in the jail that we do with
people outside the jail' We have to
be their (inmates) advocates. Not
that we condone what they've
done, but we can't have a street
attitude about their health."
Mr. Hopping agreed.
We try to avoid finding out
what an inmate is in for," he said.
I ll ask an inmate how long he's
A ~ ?
in for* but I won'L ask what he's in
for. By not knowing I can't be
judgmental."
The book "Care and Punish
ment" helps physicians and their
assistants overcome the negative
feelings and other obstacles facing
them while practicing medicine in
the country's prisons and jails, Dr.
Chandler said. The National Com
_ mission of Correctional Health
Care, a branch of the American
Medical Association, is another
supportive arm for medical pro
fessions.
"The ambiguity of caring and
punishing at the same time is
especially striking in the case of
medical care for the goals and
assumptions of medical care often
come into direct conflict with
those of correctional policy and
discipline," Dr. Chandler wrote.
"For the nurse, physician's assis
tant, physician, and even for the
prison guard, this book has a mes
sage that is instructive; it explains
how things really are and how
they got that way."
A space shortage, is the only
major problem care givers are
having at the Forsyth County Jail,
Mr. Hopping said. The proposed
$35 million new jail would solve
that problem, both gentlemen
said, offering them a ward to care
for bed-ridde'n inmates, more
spacc for around-the-clock nurse
care and a cleaner work environ
ment.
"When our service is compared
to that of others," Dr. Chandler
said, "we provide better than
some."
"If you had a retarded kid, if
you had a handicapped kid, would
n't you want . . . began Tracy
Verdinek, another resident before
she stopped unable to complete her
statement because she began to cry.
*Ifs ironic that we're having
this discussion about independent
living on the eve of Independence
Day," said Susie Lloyd, house par
ent at Bethabara Hills. "Our whole
goal is to teach them (residents)
independent living. I really don't
understand how you can be against
this."
Board members acknowledged
they were dealing with a very
touchy situation.
Alderman Lynne S. Harpe said,
"I wish that there were some way I
could feel comfortable in granting
Mr. Lyon's request but we don't
have that alternative."
The alternative is unavailable,
said Cky Attorney Ronald G. See
ber, because current legislation will
not allow the use of a Special Use
Permit, authorized by the Board of
Aldermen, to waive the half-mile
spacing requirement of family care
homes. State and local legislation
only allows political jurisdictions
the option of adopting the half-mile
spacing requirement, Mr. Seeber
said.
- ? However, Mr. Lyon and Ms,
Lloyd told the board no other group
of people had restrictions governing
where they could locate.
? "It's discrimination," said Ms.
Lloyd in an interview Tuesday,
"because nobody else has any kind
of one-mile spacing requirements --
not group homes, not fraternity's or
bars.
"I understand what they're talk
ing about, not wanting the homes to
spring up in everybody's backyard,
but this situation we're in is just
ideal. I don't know why they can't
do this case by case. Why wasn't
that brought up?"
In the absence, of Aldermen
Patrick Hairston, Robert S. Nor
thington and Larry W. Womble the
board decided to delay taking action
until its July 17 meeting -- hoping
for some additional insight from
those aldermen.
In the meanwhile, Ms. Lloyd
said she and the residents want the
aldermen to come out and visit their
home so they can see their special
situation for themselves.
"I want them to see the home
and how much land we have and
maybe go down to the Enrichment
Center and see what independent
living can do," she said. "One of the
guys down there is out from his par
ents and they put him in a rest
home. He's too young to be in a rest
home." i
Ms. Lloyd said only Alderman
Martha S. Wood has visited the
family care home. Mrs. Wood said
she was impressed and embarrassed
by what she saw.
"Their rooms made my son's
look like a pig pen," she said, later
asking board members to take an
half-hour out of their schedules to
visit the home.
if i: ^ ? f
m
- Photo by Mike Cunningham
Dr. Ted Chandler, left, and Jerry Hopping, a physician's assis
tant, say Inmates In the Forsyth County Jail receive some of the
best health care given to prisoners. Through a special arrange
ment between the county and Bowman Gray School of
Medicine, Mr. Hopping and five other P.A.'s work on a rotating
- schedule to treat inmates' ailments.
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