Step.- Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Brian Edwards, MD, Professor, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso, to the state’s Correctional Managed Health Care Committee (CMHCC).
His term will expire on February 1, 2025. The committee coordinates the development of state policies for the provision of health care within the criminal justice system, in Texas prisons.
Dr. Edwards is an assistant professor at the TTUHSC El Paso Foster School of Medicine, where he serves as director of the Internal Medicine/Psychiatry Residency Program and associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
In addition to his role at TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Edwards is an internist at Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso, where he provides world-class patient care at his Alberta location. Specializes in Diabetes Mellitus, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Liver Disease, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Joint Pain, Low Back Pain, Chronic Heart Disease, Seasonal Allergies, Upper Respiratory Infections, Hypothyroidism, Care preventive health, urinary tract infections, depression, heartburn (GERD), asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The CMHCC was established by the state legislature in 1993 to address the increasing costs and operational challenges associated with providing health care to prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“As someone from El Paso, I would like to use my presence on the committee to learn more regarding health care issues that are particular to those found in correctional facilities across the region, and be a local voice for address those issues,” Edwards said. “I would like to pass this knowledge on to our medical residents. With a greater familiarity with the correctional system and correctional health care, I will make positive contributions with my experiences and knowledge as a clinician and academic physician.”
He added that some challenges appear to be managing chronic conditions, managing mental health/substance abuse issues, and the size of the prison population relative to nursing staff. Other challenges include managing geriatric conditions as the prison population tends to face conditions seen in geriatric patients at a younger age.
