Overview  |  Index  |  CMA Board & Subcommittees  |  Meeting Notices & Minutes
Reports & Documents  |  Survey Process  |  Links  |  News  |  Contact Us

Historical Information

The Correctional Medical Authority (CMA) was created by the 1986 Florida Legislature in sections 945.601 - 945.6036, Florida Statutes. The Authority  is comprised of nine members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The purpose of the Authority is to assist in the delivery of health care services for inmates and to advise the Department of Corrections on the delivery of primary, acute, emergency, convalescent, dental, and mental health care and on the management costs consistent with quality care. For administrative purposes, the statute assigns the CMA to the Department of Health. The Authority is not subject to control or supervision by the Department of Corrections or the Department of Health.

The major statutory powers of the Authority are as follows:

1. Review and make recommendations regarding health care for the delivery of health care services in the Department of Corrections.

2. Develop and recommend to the Governor and Legislature an annual budget for all or part of the operation of the prison health care system.

3. Approve contracts for quality assurance programs, peer review standards for quality of care and appropriate utilization of health care services and accounts for the expenditure of public funds.

4. Review projected medical needs of the inmate population.

5. Establish and approve pre-service, in-service, and continuing medical education programs for Department of Corrections health care personnel.

6. Identify the professional incentives that will be required to attract and retain qualified professional health care staff within the Department of Corrections.

7. Assist in the developing and implementing of a health services plan.

8. Employ or contract with health care providers, medical personnel, management consultants, consulting engineers, architects, etc., as may be necessary in the judgment of the Authority.

9. Report, not less than annually, to the Governor and Legislature regarding the status of the Department's health care delivery system.

10. Conduct or cause to be conducted, comprehensive surveys of the health care system at each correctional institution at least triennially.

11. Appoint a medical review committee to provide oversight of the Department's quality management program.

The Correctional Medical Authority was created in response to legislative, gubernatorial and judicial frustration with the continuing problems of medical care in Florida's prison system. The adequacy of health care provided by the Florida Department of Corrections was first formally challenged in 1972 in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, by inmates Michael Costello and Roberto Celestineo. The suit alleged violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because of overcrowding and denial of medical care by the (then) Division of Corrections.

The Court envisioned that the role of the Correctional Medical Authority is "to replace the Court as the guarantor of continued compliance with the standards of physical and mental health care achieved by the Department during the litigation. function." (147 F.R.D. 258)  To that end, Judge Susan Black signed an order on December 11, 1990 relinquishing the physical health care survey function to the Authority from the Court's medical survey team. On July 24, 1992, a status conference was conducted by the Court's Special Master, Joseph R. Julin, and mental health survey responsibilities were placed within the purview of the Correctional Medical Authority. The first mental health survey conducted by the Authority took place on September 1-3, 1992. Judge Susan Black signed an order on March 5, 1993, closing the Costello v. Singletary lawsuit and returning control of Florida's prison health care to the State. After more than 21 years of litigation involving numerous studies, reports and agreements, the State disentangled itself from allegations that physical and mental health care for inmates did not meet constitutional standards and the Federal Court relinquished its monitoring and oversight functions of the Department of Corrections health care system to the Correctional Medical Authority.