CCA Dentist Has Heart for 'The Underdog"
As a retired full colonel from the United States Air Force and a trained dentist, Steve Merrill could be leading the typical charmed life. But his adventures have a charm all their own.
As director of dental services at Corrections Corporation of America’s Bay Correctional Facility in Panama City, Fla., Merrill goes to prison every day and sometimes spends weeklong stretches in some of the most inhospitable places on the planet.
For Merrill, it’s his heart for the underdog that keeps him going. In fact, it was his allegiance to the underserved and vulnerable that thrust him into a correctional career – and led to him becoming a globetrotter, traveling far and wide to donate his dental services to men, women and children around the world.
“In either environment, you’re helping people who don’t have as much as us,” says Merrill, who joined CCA in 1996 and, as dental director for the entire CCA system, oversees the dental operations at the company’s 66 facilities as well as treating 1,000 inmates at Bay Correctional Facility.
As a volunteer with Medical Wings International a nonprofit organization that provides acute medical, dental and eye care to developing nations, Merrill has traveled to Nicaragua, India, Peru, Honduras and, most recently, Russia to provide dental services to those for whom health care is generally out of reach and nearly impossible to obtain.
In August, Merrill spent five days in Honduras, where he served on a 16-member Medical Wings team providing care to more than 1,100 people.
“The people lined up for miles to get very basic care,” he says. “The days were long, but the experiences were very rewarding.”
Merrill and his team taught CPR and dental hygiene to clinic visitors and treated many illnesses “that have largely been eradicated in America, like malnutrition and scabies.”
“In Honduras, the average annual income is $1,250.00,” Merrill explains. “Most people spend only on basic provisions, like food. So receiving the quality of care our team provided at no cost makes a priceless impact in their lives.”
This month, Merrill spent five days on a medical mission trip to Russia, where he helped treat 130 children in one of the nation’s many orphanages.
“There are about a million children in the system there,” Merrill says. “It was very sad. Many end up in the system since their parents lose their parental rights due to alcoholism or drugs. Once the children become wards of the state, they are basically committed to a ‘life-sentence’ in the orphanage unless they are adopted or learn a trade that gets them out of being institutionalized.”
For Merrill, as much as he gives, he gets. Each trip leaves him feeling humbled and revitalized, with a deeper sense of patriotism.
“Each trip makes me realize how good I – and we, as Americans – have it and how much need is out there,” he says. “More than anything, these trips reinforce how blessed I am.”
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About CCA
CCA is the founder and industry leader of the private corrections management industry, representing the nation’s fifth-largest corrections system, behind the federal government and three states. CCA currently operates 66 facilities, including 42 that are company-owned, with a total design capacity of approximately 82,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 17,000 employees who provide comprehensive educational, vocational, therapeutic and addictions treatment programs intended to prepare inmates for successful re-integration with society.
