The Clinical Services section of the Division of Health Services delivers a full spectrum of evidence-based, compassionate, and constitutionally consistent care to individuals incarcerated in North Carolina’s state prisons. From admission through release, Health Services provides medical, dental, mental health, and inpatient care that promotes wellness, supports rehabilitation, and enhances successful reentry into the community. Licensed and credentialed clinicians, nurses, dentists, and behavioral health specialists work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary care team to ensure every patient receives appropriate, continuous, and high-quality treatment.

Medical Services

Medical Services provides comprehensive healthcare for all individuals in custody. Care encompasses emergency, acute, chronic, routine and preventive health services delivered at every correctional facility. The division emphasizes early identification and treatment of illness, continuity of care, and preventive medicine as cornerstones of a healthier incarcerated population. Clinicians coordinate with specialists and community providers when advanced care is required, ensuring each patient’s health needs are met throughout their incarceration and in preparation for their transition and continuity of care in the community.

Nursing Services

Nursing Services plays a vital role in providing ethical, safe, and patient-centered care across all facilities. Nurses serve as integral members of both the healthcare and custody teams, participating in the planning and delivery of evidence-based care. Responsibilities include health assessments, medication administration, crisis intervention, wound management, patient education, and advocacy. Nursing staff are committed to improving overall health outcomes and ensuring that every patient receives the highest standard of clinical and compassionate care.

Inpatient Services

For patients requiring hospitalization or more complicated care, inpatient services are provided at the Central Prison Healthcare Complex and the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women Healthcare Complex(NCCIW). These facilities offer acute and long-term medical care, ambulatory services, and specialty clinics, ensuring that complex health conditions can be managed within the correctional healthcare system. Central Prison Healthcare Complex also provides operative services in partnership with community providers. Inpatient Services also coordinates with community hospitals and outside specialists when emergency or advanced care is required beyond in-house capacity.

Specialty Clinics and Telehealth Services

Health Services also provides access to a wide range of specialty medical clinics and telehealth programs designed to meet complex healthcare needs within the correctional environment. Specialty clinics with in CPHC and NCCIW include orthopedics, podiatry, nephrology, audiology, ophthalmology, optometry, dermatology, infectious disease, and advanced dental specialties such as endodontics and oral surgery. Telehealth connectivity extends these services statewide.

The telehealth program enhances access to care across North Carolina’s 54 facilities by linking patients with practitioners and specialists in real time through secure video technology. Telehealth improves continuity of care and allows for more timely assessment and treatment. The program supports multiple disciplines—including medical, psychiatric, and substance use treatment—and continues to expand as part of the state’s commitment to healthcare innovation within correctional settings. Telehealth equipment allows patients to access specialty encounters with healthcare practitioners in the community without leaving the secure confines of the facility. This cost-effective initiative allows correctional officers to provide security inside facilities, thereby enhancing public safety by limiting exposure for non-urgent medical conditions. This initiative saves the Department and taxpayers millions of dollars each year and provides expanded access to care.

Dental Services

Dental Services provides comprehensive oral health care to patients using modern equipment and techniques. Routine, urgent, and emergency treatment includes preventive services, restorative procedures, oral surgery, and prosthetic care. When complex or specialty dental services are required, community partners may assist in providing advanced treatment. Patients also receive oral hygiene education to support self-care and build confidence in maintaining their dental health. The program’s goal is to deliver cost-effective care that meets or exceeds community standards.

Mental Health

Psychiatric, Psychology and Clinical Social Work Services

Mental Health Services delivers comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment for individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders, intellectual disabilities, and other developmental conditions. Programs are designed to prevent, control, and reduce behaviors that interfere with well-being and rehabilitation. Services include diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders, crisis intervention, outpatient and inpatient care, and substance use treatment. Specialized programs address specialty mental health needs such as sexual offense-specific treatment, day treatment for individuals with developmental disabilities, and therapeutic diversion units for patients with mental illness in lieu of restrictive housing. Staff development, training, and program evaluation ensure services remain current, effective, and aligned with national best practices.

Psychologists, clinical social workers and other licensed mental health practitioners are assigned to correctional institutions throughout the state to provide direct mental health assessments and care.

Psychiatric Services provides diagnosis and treatment for individuals who require mental health care. Common conditions include substance use disorders, psychotic and bipolar disorders, trauma-related disorders, depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Psychiatric care is also provided to the “safekeeper” population—pretrial detainees who require a higher level of care than can be provided in county facilities.

North Carolina’s system is among the few in the nation offering inpatient services. This service is provided for male patients at the Central Prison Healthcare Complex and for female patients at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women Healthcare Complex (NCCIW).

Outpatient  psychiatric care is delivered through telepsychiatry clinics conducted at more than 30 facilities statewide. This model expands access to care, particularly in rural areas. Health Services maintains an ongoing partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Psychiatry, whose faculty provide direct care and continuing education for DAC psychiatric providers.

Alcoholism and Chemical Dependency Programs (ACDP)

The Alcoholism and Chemical Dependency Programs (ACDP) section promotes recovery and rehabilitation through screening, treatment, and reentry support for individuals with substance use disorders. ACDP recognizes addiction as a chronic, progressive, and treatable brain disease influenced by genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. Programs are grounded in evidence-based practices recommended by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Treatment principles include understanding addiction as a brain disease, using comprehensive assessments and individualized treatment planning, employing cognitive-behavioral interventions to reshape thought patterns, practicing new skills through repetition and role play, and using standardized gender-specific curricula. Clinical staff maintain credentials through the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board and follow the twelve core functions of substance use counseling, including screening, assessment, treatment planning, counseling, crisis intervention, and coordination of care.

ACDP offers four levels of service:

• Community-based residential treatment
• Prison-based intensive outpatient intermediate treatment
• Prison-based intensive outpatient long-term treatment
• Recovery Road Services, which focus on engagement, treatment access, aftercare, and reentry coordination

Together, these programs provide a continuum of care that promotes rehabilitation, reduces relapse, and supports an individual’s successful return to the community.