McLean County jail installs barrier at nurses’ station; officials report tripling of medication-assisted treatment activity

At its July meeting the McLean County Health Committee heard a jail operations update that included a recent safety change at the jail nurses’ station and an increase in medication-assisted treatment activity.

Diane Hughes, speaking for the jail, said after a recent incident the facility “had a barrier put around the nurses' station and also will help ensure some privacy, in HIPAA.” The barrier was described as a new safety precaution for nurses.

A committee member, during the meeting’s discussion, praised the jail’s treatment efforts, saying they “did appreciate in your report the, the recognition of the medication assisted treatment activity tripling and increasing to be able to assist more folks with, substance use disorders. I think that's absolutely awesome. It's great work to be able to combat recidivism.” Diane Hughes acknowledged the program’s expansion and said staff “continue to work and strive to move forward in helping, grow that program as well.”

Committee members did not take formal action on the jail report; the items were presented as departmental updates. No statistics beyond the qualitative statement that medication-assisted treatment activity has tripled were provided in the transcript, and no participant supplied a baseline, dates, or client counts for that increase.

The jail updates were part of routine departmental matters reviewed by the Health Committee during the meeting. The committee did not schedule follow-up action specific to the jail during the session.