Study Shows Health Disparities For People Out of Prison in North Dakota

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – A new study calls attention to the health-care needs of people who are unhoused or formerly incarcerated. A North Dakota lawmaker says the results resonate around the region.

Researchers aligned with the Minnesota Electronic Health Record Consortium looked at data covering more than four million people in that state. They found significant disparities when comparing various health conditions of people recently incarcerated or unhoused to the total statewide population.

In North Dakota, state Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, D-Fargo, said similar outcomes are observed by policymakers and providers who want to fix the problem.

“The number of people who have a substance-use disorder or a mental illness is an issue for our entire population,” said Hanson, “but it’s especially emphasized in our criminal justice system.”