New jail health director details services, gaps and reentry priorities

Dr. Lisa Bridal, San Francisco's new jail health director, told the Health Commission on June 21 that jail health operates on a $31,000,000 budget, serves roughly 15,000 unique patients a year and maintains an average daily census of about 1,250. She said the program provides 24/7 nursing coverage, primary care six days a week and behavioral-health coverage every day and described the jail system as "an integrated multidisciplinary health care delivery system."

Why it matters: Bridal said 65 percent of people in the jail stay fewer than seven days and 86 percent are pretrial, which creates turnover and narrow windows to intervene. That churn, she told commissioners, makes the jail a critical place for public-health interventions such as medication continuity for chronic illness and initiation or continuation of…