DOC centralized the health services function between 1984 and 1985. Each of the three pharmacies is staffed with pharmacists, technicians and an office specialist. Dental services are provided through health services. The clinic at OSCI provides 24-hour health care to approximately 800 inmates. The pharmacy technician and dental assistant are dually supervised by both the clinic manager and the respective pharmacist or dentist with whom they work.
Nurses work on all shifts in the clinic.
Those on the day shifts interact with doctors, dentists, physician assistants and other medical personnel on a daily basis. They also interact on a daily basis with security personnel when performing sick calls in the units and when retrieving patients from medical visits off the premises. The OSCI clinic is located next to the segregation unit within the walls of the institution. During sick call nurses regularly see 30 to 40 inmates per day. One nurse is assigned the night shift from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.