Photo: EJI
EJI has opened a new health clinic that will provide free health screenings and services to people released from jail or prison and services to other vulnerable populations in Alabama.
EJI has provided legal assistance to poor and indigent people who are imprisoned for over 30 years and has recently expanded its work to confront poverty across the state.
With hundreds of thousands of uninsured people in Alabama, access to health care remains a critical problem. People in Alabama die of chronic diseases that patients in other jurisdictions survive.
The mortality rate inside Alabama’s prisons is one of the highest in the country. People coming out of jails and prisons suffer from undiagnosed illnesses that can seriously compromise their health and successful re-entry.
EJI Health Clinic will be available to any person recently released from jail or prison. Located in Montgomery, the clinic will provide free screenings and limited care for a range of diseases and illnesses.
“It’s clear that we could improve public safety, reduce crime, and lower the recidivism rate if we focused more on health care for people in jails and prisons and those who are released,” EJI Director Bryan Stevenson said. “We believe EJI Health can make a positive contribution to helping people re-enter society but also promote healthier communities and improved public safety.”
EJI is providing support to hundreds of families experiencing food insecurity across the state and will now supplement that anti-poverty initiative with free health services.
“We have a very talented team of health care providers that will be assisting some of the most vulnerable people in Alabama,” Mr. Stevenson said.
Dr. Margaret Hayden and Dr. Sanjay Kishore are the first two full-time primary care physicians at EJI Health. Both are graduates of Harvard Medical School and completed their residencies at the prestigious Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Ryan Pratt brings to the health clinic nearly 15 years of experience as a registered nurse following six years in the U.S. Army.
Social worker Laquarria Nevins provides additional re-entry support to clients who come through the clinic. Ms. Nevins has worked with people impacted by the criminal justice system both while incarcerated and after release for over two decades.
Health services are also managed by Dr. Maria Morrison, another licensed social worker, and Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at EJI with over 20 years of experience working with people coming out of jails and prisons.
The program took shape earlier this year after months of work by the clinic’s full-time health managers, Mary Ellen Luck and Meghan Hunter, both of whom have years of health care management experience and graduate degrees in business from the Stanford Business School.
Legal and anti-poverty staff at EJI will work closely with the clinicians and patient-clients in providing multiple services.
EJI Health also has a mobile clinic that will travel to underserved areas across the state to provide health support and assistance to those in need.
For more information about the clinic or to schedule an appointment, people recently released from custody can call EJI Health at 334-239-9740 or email [email protected].
