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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Department of Corrections is seeing a dramatic rise in the number of elderly inmates over the past decade. As the inmate ages go up, costs to cover their medical expenses go up too.
In the past six years, the percentage of inmates over the age of 55 has gone up from 5.6 percent to 8.4 percent. That might not seem like a big jump to most people, but for the Utah Department of Corrections that's a drastic rise.
Over 55 is when we generally start seeing those people need medical help on a regular basis for ongoing problems.
–Stephen Gehrke
"We do tend to spend a lot more on these elderly patients," says department spokesman Stephen Gehrke.
In the outside world, someone is considered a senior citizen when they are 65 years old. But Gehrke says in the prison world, age 55 is considered geriatric. Arthritis becomes a serious problem, and existing health issues in these prisoners tend to get worse.
"Over 55 is when we generally start seeing those people need medical help on a regular basis for ongoing problems," Gehrke says.
The infirmary inside the Utah State Prison is well equipped to handle many injuries sustained during prison life. But there are many things doctors there can't handle.
"We do what we can in the infirmary," Gehrke says. "A lot of the issues, when they start getting into cancer or things like that where they need special treatment, they need to go to the University of Utah, and we'll always transport people if it's a definite problem that they need help with."
There are ways the DOC can save money on medical costs. Prisoners are given access to physical recreation and they are given exercise time, which Gehrke says many geriatric inmates take advantage of.
In other cases, certain inmates could qualify for an early release for medical reasons.
"In every case where it makes sense, we'll refer someone to the board of pardons and say, ‘It might make sense to do a compassionate release on this person. They're 80 years old, they have severe cancer problems and they probably don't have much longer to live,'" Gehrke says.
But an early release isn't always the best decision. If an inmate's crime is severe enough, and if the victims fear for their safety, that prisoner could very well die in prison.
Corrections officials can't say exactly how much more they're spending to treat older inmates, but they know the costs are higher than before. They're trying to pinpoint the exact figure now.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
