The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies presents this year's Gustav O. Lienhard Award to two outstanding leaders in the advancement of personal health services: Bernard P. Harrison, lawyer and co-founder of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), and B. Jaye Anno, criminologist and co-founder of the NCCHC.  Anno and Harrison, both of Santa Fe, NM, are being honored for their profound contributions to improvements in the quality and humanity of the medical care systems for the incarcerated.  As co-founders of NCCHC, they are responsible for developing the first comprehensive standards for health services in jails, prisons, and juvenile detention facilities, and for initiating the concept of voluntary accreditation as the incentive for states, counties, and the federal government to upgrade health care conditions in correctional facilities.

In the early 1970s, Harrison and Anno brought to the nation's attention the tremendous inadequacy of health care for the incarcerated.  As vice president of the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1972, Harrison spearheaded efforts to survey and research the state of health care in correctional health care facilities.  He and Anno demonstrated the gravity of health problems of inmates, the risk that these problems posed to the health of the public beyond jails and prisons, and the inadequacy of care that was being provided to inmates.  Enlisting the support of key organizations and constituencies, Anno and Harrison worked to increase awareness of the problem and to dramatically improve standards for health services in prisons.  As a result of these standards, there was a fourfold increase in the detection of previously undiagnosed and untreated illnesses among inmates.  In concurrence with their work, the Supreme Court ruled that states have an obligation to ensure that an individual's basic needs are met, including health care.  In 1981 Anno and Harrison founded NCCHC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care in the nation's jails, prisons, and juvenile detention and confinement facilities.  The organization has created a certification program for correctional health personnel and set standards for health services in correctional facilities.  It provides a voluntary accreditation program for jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities that meet its standard and offers customized consultation and technical assistance to facilities.

Harrison received his J.D. from DePaul University, Chicago, and practiced law for 10 years before joining the staff of the AMA in 1961.  In 1981 he retired from the AMA and co-founded NCCHC.

Anno received an M.A. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, and a Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Maryland, College Park.  In addition to co-founding NCCHC, she also is the principal author of the major reference book for the field, Correctional Health Care: Guidelines for the Management of an Adequate Delivery System (2001 edition) and is past editor of the Journal on Correctional Health Care.  She recently co-authored a study for The Health Status of Soon-to-be-Released Inmates: A Report to Congress.

The award will be presented on Monday, October 27, at the IOM's annual meeting.  The presentation will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the National Academies' building at 2100 C St. N.W., Washington, D.C.  This year's ceremony marks the 18th presentation of the Gustav O. Lienhard Award, which includes a medal and a $25,000 prize.  Given annually, the award recognizes outstanding national achievement in improving personal health care services in the United States. Nominees are eligible for consideration without regard to education or profession.  Award recipients are selected by a committee of experts convened by the IOM.  This year's committee was chaired by Claire M. Fagin, director of the John A. Hartford Foundation Initiative, which builds academic geriatric nursing capacity.  Fagin is Emerita and Dean Emerita of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

The Lienhard Award is funded by an endowment from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Lienhard was chair of the Foundation's board of trustees from the organization's establishment in 1971 to his retirement in 1986.  Lienhard, who died in 1987, built his career with Johnson & Johnson, beginning as an accountant and retiring 39 years later as president.