PRISON MEDICAL CHIEF QUITS

Dr. Armond Start, who took the job in July, resigned as a result of strife
with his supervisors.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The man who was hired to clean up the Oklahoma Department
of Corrections' controversial inmate medical program abruptly resigned Friday.

Dr. Armond Start, who had been on the job since July, submitted his
resignation Friday, effective immediately.

In his resignation letter, Start said he was told by Oklahoma Department of
Corrections Director James Saffle on Oct. 25 and again on Thursday that
Saffle had ``lost confidence in my ability to do my job.'' Start also said
Saffle told him Thursday that his performance did not meet expectations.

In addition, Start said his immediate supervisor's management style ``made
my four months of employment a miserable experience.''

Mary Livers, DOC associate director, was Start's supervisor. Livers did not
want to comment Friday, DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said.

In a prepared statement, Saffle said he voiced concerns to Start about
responding to directives in a timely manner and about the quality of that
response. Saffle did not say he had lost confidence in Start or that he
sought Start's resignation.

``If Dr. Start is unwilling to meet my expectations, it is in the best
interest of the department that he no longer hold the position of chief
medical officer," Saffle said.

Saffle had been under pressure from members of the Board of Corrections to
develop a plan to deal with problems in medical care, said Beverly Young,
Board of Corrections chairwoman.

The department is in the midst of trying to settle a long-standing
class-action inmate lawsuit, Battle vs. Anderson. In the suit, Tulsa
attorneys Louis Bullock and Thomas Seymour alleged that deliberate
indifference led to inmate deaths and needless suffering. As a result of
the lawsuit, the Legislature appropriated $7.2 million to improve inmate
medical care.

A nationally recognized medical care expert, Dr. Robert Greifinger, had
been monitoring the department's progress toward improving inmate medical
care.

Before the $7.2 million allocation, Greifinger issued a blistering report
regarding medical conditions for state inmates.

Young said Greifinger has issued two supplementary reports pointing out
problems.

The board has asked Saffle to have a plan to address all of Greifinger's
concerns.

``I want a plan in place so we don't go from crisis to crisis,'' Young
said. ``I want an overall plan. That is what we expected of the director.''

The report was supposed to be due Thursday, Young said.

Start was out of town and unavailable for comment.

His resignation "is a major setback for the process of improving medical
care in Oklahoma prisons," Bullock said Friday.

But Young disagreed. "I don't think that at all," she said. "The Department
of Corrections, the Board of Corrections and Director Saffle are determined
that we will have excellent medical service in prisons, and we will do it.''

Saffle said an interim director would be named while the department looks
for Start's replacement. Part of the Battle vs. Anderson settlement
agreement requires that the department have a full-time medical director.

Saffle said he expects the chief medical officer ``to provide leadership,
identify issues, develop corrective action and medical care plans and
articulate the vision and goals for the medical care system."

"I also expect that person to perform the necessary administrative duties
to move toward the goal of a quality inmate health care delivery system and
to be receptive to directives from supervisors,'' he said.

Barbara Hoberock, World Capitol Bureau reporter, can be reached at (405)
528-2465 or via e-mail at barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com.