Staffing and Recruitment Branch
National Drug Formulary 2002-03
The Health Programs Branch coordinates the Bureau of Prisons' medical, dental, and mental health services to Federal inmates. The Health Programs Section has four primary areas:
Chief Health Professionals. Chief Professional Officers serve as a liaison to professional staff in the field institutions and provide recruitment assistance to the field institutions.
Infectious Disease Management/Prevention. This office provides assistance to staff and inmates to increase awareness of and compliance with methods and practices currently used to control the spread of infectious disease.
Health Programs. Provides for an efficient and effective plan of health care delivery in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, using system-wide approaches that incorporate restructuring and innovative strategies such as telemedicine, electronic health records, primary care provider teams, and utilization review.
Office of Medical Designations and Transportation. This office is responsible for the designation of inmates who require medical or mental health treatment at one of the Bureau of Prisons' seven Medical Referral Centers.
To contact the Health Programs Branch, call 202-353-4659.
To contact the Health Systems Branch, call 202-514-9154.
The Safety Branch ensures inmates and employees of the Bureau a safe, healthful environment in which to work and live. It provides national oversight authority and staff assistance in three areas: Occupational Safety, Environmental Health, and Life Safety and Fire Protection.
Safety. The Safety Branch closely monitors accident data submitted monthly by institutions and Regional Offices. Information received is used to generate an annual Injury Status Report to the field detailing injury types, rates, cause, trends, and workers' compensation-related costs. Included are recommendations for corrective actions to improve program efficiency. The report raises the awareness of the field regarding safety concerns and enables institutions to focus on problem areas.
Environmental Health. Ensures compliance with environmental regulations and standards by policy development, data collection, and technical assistance. Provides onsite technical assistance in all areas of industrial hygiene and management of toxic and hazardous materials.
Life Safety and Fire Protection. Ensures that Federal institutions comply with current American Correctional Association (ACA) Standards and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) National Fire Codes (NFC), emphasizing NFPA 101 Life Codes, through policy development, data collection, and technical assistance.
To contact the Safety Branch, call 202-305-9973.
The Food Service Branch provides healthy, nutritionally sound, and appetizing meals that meet the needs of the general inmate population as well as those at nutritional risk.
Meals meet the Recommended Dietary Allowances established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Commission of Life Sciences. Meal preparation is accomplished primarily by inmate workers (about 12% of the population) under the supervision of Bureau staff. Inmates assigned to the Food Service Department have the opportunity to acquire skills and abilities that may assist them in obtaining employment upon release. In addition, Food Service provides special meals that meet inmates' religious and medical dietary requirements.
To contact the Food Service Branch, call 202-307-0307.
Staffing and Recruitment Branch
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has over 3,000 health care positions. The Staffing & Recruitment Branch aids in processing, hiring and recruiting for all health disciplines, especially physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and mid-level providers. The branch attempts to reach out to qualified providers through advertising, national conferences, local job fairs, and program affiliations at colleges and universities. Qualified candidates may be offered either civil service opportunities or U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) commissioning.
More than 650 PHS Commissioned Officers are detailed from the Department of Health and Human Services to positions across the BOP. This cadre of health care providers has been supporting the medical mission of the BOP since 1930. The civil service and PHS personnel systems have their own pay structure, benefits, and career progression. Civil Service applications are processed through nationwide announcements; most are posted on USAJobs.. The PHS is a uniformed service of the United States and follows its own commissioning standards. More information (including an application and a chart showing differences between the systems) may be found at the Public Health Service web site.
To contact the Staffing & Recruitment Branch, call (202) 353-4139 or 1-800-800-2676.
Office of Quality Management. The Office of Quality Management measures, assesses, and identifies opportunities for continuous improvement to achieve better outcomes in providing health care to the Federal inmate population. The section advocates and supports health care providers with comprehensive training, and identifies the opportunities for efficient and effective health care delivery in a correctional system.
To contact the Office of Quality Management, call 307-0505.