Salt Lake County is wise to recognize that more jail beds cannot fix the county's congested corrections system ("Thinking outside the cellblock: Salt Lake County aims to free more jail space by more counseling," Tribune , June 26). The key to reducing the burden on the legal system and on taxpayers is to reintegrate released inmates into society and keep them from returning behind bars. Health care can play an important role in this process.

At most jails, inmates are treated before they return to their communities, after which their health problems often go untreated and worsen. This societal investment in health care for offenders in jail is often lost after they leave.

That's not the case at jails that use a community-based approach that assigns offenders to local doctors who see them in jail and after release. Connecting health care in jail with that in the community helps to ensure management of addictions and other mental illnesses. It reduces the spread of contagious diseases and the risk of assaults and domestic violence. It also reduces expenses, which are ultimately born by victims of crime and by the county.

Keith Barton, M.D. Medical director, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

Oakland, Calif.