PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — An inmate says the Hampton Roads Regional jail is short-staffed, so it can’t properly take care of the hundreds of medical cases there.
Inmate Robert Raymond Jr. of Chesapeake contacted us through his friend, Jenipher Warner.
“It’s not good, he’s OK for now but he could definitely be better if he was being medically cared for properly,” Warner said Friday morning.
The Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth houses inmates from five local cities and is also the dedicated lockup for medical cases. Raymond has diabetes and heart disease and is concerned that the shortage of officers that he claims is happening could lead to a medical crisis going unnoticed for hours.
“According to him, there’s a 120-staff shortage right now and he’s told that it’s because the officers requested hazard pay and they would not give it to them,” Warner said.
Superintendent Chris Walz says hazardous duty pay was approved for sworn staff in late October, and the jail’s medical contractor is fully capable of providing medical, mental health and dental services. Walz says security rounds are conducted according to policy and procedure, emergency grievances are available, and COVID-19 testing follows CDC guidelines.
The jail’s updated COVID-19 dashboard showed a total of zero current positive inmates, and 324 have tested negative.
Warner says her friend has yet to be tested for coronavirus, but Walz says inmates would not be tested if they do not show coronavirus symptoms, per CDC guidance.