UTMB President Dr. David Callender spent time with UTMB Correctional Managed Care employees at the Walls and Estelle prison units and CMC Pharmacy Services, all in the Huntsville area, and at CMC offices in Conroe on May 5.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to see, first-hand, the excellent care that our UTMB CMC staff provides to their patients under sometimes very challenging circumstances,’’ Callender said. “It was gratifying to see the dedication and loyalty of our CMC employees to providing the best health care possible to their patients. We are proud to have such committed employees as part of our UTMB family.”
CMC employees provide patient care to more than 120,000 offenders annually — about 80 percent of the Texas prison population. UTMB CMC Pharmacy Services dispense 4.6 million prescriptions a year, averaging more than 18,000 prescriptions per business day through its automated system. A reclamation program, in which unused medications are returned to the pharmacy for reuse, results in an average annual savings of $8.3 million. The major cost drivers for prescription use among the prison population are HIV medication (44 percent); psychotropic agents (8 percent); chronic hepatitis patients (6 percent); and dialysis patients (4 percent).