CCA’S South Central Correctional Center Provides Medical Aid To More Than 2,000 In Mexico
Annual facility mission trip gives medical care – and more – to the country’s most vulnerable
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For more than 16 years, Chaplain Randall Runions of South Central Correctional Center in Clifton, Tenn. has lent prayer, an empathic ear and religious guidance to inmates seeking to “keep the faith” while incarcerated.
And now his personal and professional commitment to service has extended beyond the nation’s borders to neighboring Mexico, where he and a team of 25 other volunteers and professionals affiliated with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) facility recently provided free medical care to more than 2,000 residents of the town of Sinaloa de Leyva in late May-early June this year.
“In a showing of customer partnership and support, Dr. Lester Lewis, medical services director for the Tennessee Department of Corrections, was also in attendance,” Runions says.” Many area churches, businesses and nonprofit organizations also assisted with logistics and donated supplies. The outpouring from the local community was generous, unrestrained and a true showing of altruism in action.”
Runions, accompanied by volunteers specializing in internal medicine, addictions treatment, health services and faith-based programs, traveled to the Mexican city for the second consecutive year, where the cost for a routine doctor’s visit is prohibitive for many.
“In a town like this, seeing a doctor might cost a whole month’s salary,” Runions says.
While in Mexico, the team stayed busy responding to the concerns and needs of the multitudes who flocked to the temporary clinic. They performed surgeries, conducted addictions treatment counseling, doled out up to $40,000 in medication, provided immunizations, were featured on three local newscasts, and donated hundreds of pairs of glasses and 100 wheelchairs refurbished through Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility’s Wheels for the World program. They also visited schools, where they distributed supplies, and held community worship services each day of their week-long visit.
Among those who received medical care were inmates and employees of a nearby prison.
“At the prison, the inmates are responsible for their own food and medicine,” Runions explains. “If their family doesn’t step in, they go without. The security staff, too, had medical needs that had long been neglected.”
Upon arrival, the team was greeted with great fanfare from the locals – a festive atmosphere that gradually gave way to the poverty and strife that Runions and his team had traveled so far to help address.
“The immediate reception we received when we arrived was unbelievable,” Runions explains. “They had a big fiesta for us, with a band and people lined up down the road waving at us. But our accommodations were not what we were accustomed to. My bed was a box spring. My wall was a piece of metal with a hole cut out to allow air flow.”
Still, Runions says such challenges keep him motivated while in Mexico and continually inspire him to go back year after year.
“I plan to return as long and as often as possible,” Runions says.
To find out more about inmate programs with CCA, please visit: http://www.correctionscorp.com/facility-operations/inmate-programs/ and http://www.correctionscorp.com/static/assets/inmate_program_broch.pdf.
To learn about a career in inmate programs with CCA, go to: http://www.correctionscorp.com/careers/careers-education/.
About CCA
CCA is the founder and industry leader of the private corrections management industry, representing the nation’s fourth-largest corrections system, behind the federal government and two states. CCA currently operates 65 facilities, including 42 that are company-owned, with a total design capacity exceeding 80,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 17,000 employees who provide comprehensive educational, vocational, therapeutic and addictions treatment programs intended to prepare inmates for successful re-integration with society.