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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — An inmate at Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest jail says the facility has been unable to offer dental services for at least five months.
Jesse Lewis says staffing shortages at the jail led the previous dentist to abandon the work because there were too many cancelled appointments when no guards were available to accompany inmates to their appointments.
He said in a phone interview from Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s, N.L., that officials said in the summer that a new dentist would be in place by November, but that hasn’t happened.
A statement from the provincial Justice Department says it is aware there have been changes to dental services “in recent months” and that it is currently working to resume dental appointments.
Lewis says he’s been asking for months to see a dentist about a painful infection in his mouth that is causing him to lose weight because it hurts to eat.
The crumbling, 164-year-old jail has been plagued by staffing shortages for at least the past year, and an Oct. 3 email from a penitentiary official released through access to information referred to an “unprecedented” number of detainees.
When asked by The Canadian Press, the Justice Department did not dispute the claim but said capacity at the facility “fluctuates over time.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2023.
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