Officials want to limit accidental overdoses that might require hospital visits.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

OXFORD – The new medical system at Oxford County Jail will be a lot more restrictive when it comes to doling out medications to inmates.

The reason is to limit accidental overdoses that might require transport to Stephens Memorial Hospital, jail administrator Ernie Martin said.

Martin said Wednesday it’s still too early to say how much staff time will be saved by guards, who used to be in charge of dispensing medication to inmates.

Under the new contract with Allied Regional Correctional Services of Westbrook, nurses will be coming into the jail to dispense medications at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Inmates will be asked to come out of their jail block one at a time with a guard to provide security, Martin said.

“The biggest thing is, it will save a lot of time for the staff,” Martin said. “The staff was really disappointed to lose Dr. Lonnie Lauer, but the liability will be out of our hands now. I’m optimistic that it will work out.”

Al Cichone, head of Allied Regional Correctional Services, has not fully implemented the program at the Oxford County Jail yet, Martin said.