NYC-WTC_000195490

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

In addition, the Division of Health Gare Access has been involved with the administration’s HealthStat initiative to identify and enroll uninsured New Yorkers into health insurance. Through the newly created Health Insurance Services Unit, the Department is involved in the following activities: (1) outreach and referral - programs in the Department provide outreach to communities and make referrals for facilitated enrollment; (2) facilitated enrollment - trained fenrollers assist families with the child health insurance application process; and (3) lead agency function - Department staff review and process all children’s health insurance applications completed by facilitated enrollers at the Department and other City agencies.

Correctional Health Services ' / :: . / i . ,

The Departmfeht continues to contract with HHC to provide health services to approximately 16,000 inmates daily. Services include new admission examinations, infirmary services, sub-acute treatment, preventive care, dental services, and prenatal services. These services are provided to inmates on Rikers Island through a J / subcontract with Prison Health Services, which began operations on January 1,2001. This provider was selected / through a request for proposals (RFP). |i Office of the Chief Medical Examiner

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) operates an accredited Forensic Biology Laboratory that processes DNA evidence tfom over 3,000 homicide and sexual assault Oases. The Laboratory also analyze.s i positive cases from 16,000 evidence kits of historical sexual assault cases held by the New York City Police JI Department (NYPD). These cases are tested by an outside laboratory for semen and retested by the OCME if positive indications of semen are found. In October 2000, the Laboratory opened a new evidence examination annex located on the fourth floor of the Bellevue Hospital Administration Building. This annex has enabled faster examination of evidence that has reduced the turnaround time for DNA analysis of sexual assault cases to an average of 30 days for regular cases and seven days for rush cases.

By the start of 2003, the OCME will expand its DNAlaboratory with the opening of a new High Sensitivity Laboratory to be located on the ninth floor of the Bellevue Hospital Administration Building. This laboratory will isolate and profile small amounts of DNA found on a wide variety of evidence gathered from crime scenes. including vafious parts of stolen vehicles, telephones, doorknobs, cigarette butts, or soda cans. The laboratory will validate the methodology, procedures, arid equipment needed to process 35,000 fingerprint cases. It will also provide the necessary training for a core group of scientists who will enable the laboratory to handle 70,000 !E fingerprint’eases annually. The new laboratory will also include a program to train evidence collection teams from ! the NYPD on collection and evaluation methods for this type of analysis.

I Ipi' I The High Sensitivity Laboratory will be the training ground for the staffing of a new DNA facili ty schedu led si to open by the end of 2004, This new building will consolidate the three existing laboratories into a world class,

r custom-built facility for forensic DNA arialysis. This twelve-story, 300,000 square foot building will be located on the campus of Bellevue Hospital. 'Hie new building will house the following expanded functions: (1) a new evidence delivery area capable of acefepting over 100,000 pieces of evidence per year; (2) high-density storage systems to house 12 years of evidence as retained specimens; (3) an expanded casework laboratory to handle ' 16,000 cases annually, up from the cunent level of 3,000; (4) a total of 70,000 fingerprint cases, up from the 35,000 cases to be processed in the High Sensitivity Laboratory; (5) a high-volume, high-throughput exemplar laboratory to perform DNA profiling from blood and saliva taken from suspects, elimination samples, and 5»ostmortems; (6) a mitochondrial laboratory to perform DNA typing of hair samples in cases such as body identifications, where regular DNA from blood and semen is unavailable; (7) an in-situ laboratory that will use DNA testing of thfe brains and serum of deceased individuals to ascertain the level of pain, stress, or fear of homicide Victims immediately before death; and (8) trainings facilities and conference rooms essential for supporting programs on proper evidence collection. (

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