DOC NAMES NEW CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

The Appointment Is Criticized By A Lawyer Representing Inmates.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The state Board of Corrections hired Dr. Jo Ann G. Ryan on
Monday as the new chief medical officer for the state prison system.

The board members voted unanimously after meeting for more than four hours
behind closed doors. However, most of their conversation concerned the
ongoing Battle vs. Anderson lawsuit regarding prison conditions.

Ryan will be paid $175,000 a year, the same as Dr. Armond Start, who
abruptly quit Nov. 9 after being on the job as the DOC's chief medical
officer for less than four months.

Ryan, 58, is an osteopathic doctor who has worked for the Department of
Corrections since April. She has been lead physician at the Dick Conner
Correctional Center at Hominy.

The Board of Corrections has been under pressure to improve the
department's medical center as part of the longstanding Battle vs. Anderson
lawsuit, which alleges that deliberate indifference in the system has led
to inmate deaths and needless suffering.

Start quit, saying his employment with the Department of Corrections was a
"miserable experience"

Tulsa attorney Louis Bullock, who represents inmates in the lawsuit, said
Ryan's appointment may be an "unwise decision."

Bullock said he has "a number of questions about the appointment. We are
very interested in whether the problems which caused the failure of Dr.
Start, one of the leaders in corrections medicine in the nation, have been
corrected and whether Dr. Ryan is in a position to succeed."

"Until those questions are answered, we believe this was an unwise
decision," Bullock said. He said he believes the medical system is getting
worse, not better.

Brian Ford, World Capitol Bureau reporter, can be reached at (405) 528-2465
or via e-mail at brian.ford@tulsaworld.com.