This may have been one of our class’s most exciting weeks yet. We all got in our cars and traveled to Fenbrook correctional institution near Gravenhurst . The main reason for our visit was to tour the health services section that the institution provides to the inmates, however we were fortunate enough to get to tour most of what the facility had to offer the inmates who reside there.I was surprised at what I saw when I arrived, there was your basic barbed wire fencing square around the perimeter however once inside it was nothing like what I would have expected. I was thinking it would look much like the movies depicted, one large building with several rooms or cells for the inmates to live in, with a laundry room, library and that sort of thing. I expect that the inmates would be wearing jumpsuits and slippers. I was wrong about all of these things.
Once we went through the main security building, you exited into the fenced in area, where the inmates walked around freely in jeans blue t-shirts and shoes of their choosing. They live in apartment style condos, where there were 6 to an apartment. This seemed much like some of the residences that they have for colleges and universities. Each inmate was allotted $3.75 each day to use as they wished to buy groceries from the store that was contained within the facility or anything else they desired. The woman who gave us the tour explained that while this didn’t seem like much they could make it work, she said that some inmates found it difficult but others pooled their money and ate well. Each inmate was also give a fairly large piece of land that they could grow a garden if they wanted to. Beyond this the inmates also had access to a gym with work out equipment, a library with internet access, and also education type facilities.
When we entered the health services building I was surprised that it looked just like any other medical office. The were doctors and nurses wandering through and there was a reception area to check in, the only difference was that their were security doors to each part of the office. We were escorted into the dental wing, which also housed the optical services wing. The hygienist who works there was very friendly and explained that she worked alone most days but that a dentist came by sometimes too. There were two chairs in her little operatory and all the equipment of any other offices. I asked her if she had any restrictions on the type or number of instruments that she would be allowed to use and she said that she could have what ever she needed there. She also explained that the inmates were allowed to have one visit each year for dental/dental hygiene treatment that was covered by the government. She explained that most of their health services were covered that in fact they could get things like Nicorette to stop smoking for free.
This whole thing was a little eye opening to me. These people who broke the law, committing crimes that landed them in medium security, were receiving better care than some of the people that are commonly referred to as the working poor. If the government thinks that it is important enough of a service to offer it free of charge to inmates, why is it not covered by OHIP for people who have done nothing wrong and are contributing to society? Even under the CINOT (Children In Need Of Treatment) children are only able to get emergency treatment, not preventative. This simply was mind boggling to me. In my opinion Canada and more importantly Ontario needs to look at their priorities.
the security gate we went through to get into the inner grounds
this is the veiw of the grounds, you can see the apartments from this view and the grounds for gardens
