2025 Policy Changes & Divergent Workflows: Healthcare in Correctional Facilities; 1115 Approvals; Data Sharing & Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023

Highlighted Stories

Editor's Note

Last year, in the Editor’s Note of December 17, 2024, we quoted a JAMA article that described corrections as a “toxic exposure.” One reason for this grim assessment may be that the operational challenges of providing healthcare in corrections are often deeply embedded with dysfunction. The two highlighted editorials in this week’s update underscore just how significant these challenges can be.

The first editorial, from MedPage, features a correctional physician and a medical student reflecting on the attention Harvey Weinstein’s medical treatment has received while incarcerated—attention driven largely by his fame and wealth. In contrast, the inadequate care experienced by those without such privilege has largely gone unnoticed. Still, the authors see a silver lining: Weinstein’s case offers a rare glimpse into a healthcare system that struggles to meet even basic needs. As they aptly note, care rarely happens in a cage.

The second editorial, from the Boston Globe, highlights Massachusetts’ history of using civil commitment for substance use disorder—sending patients to jail for treatment. The idea that carceral settings are appropriate for healthcare defies logic, not only based on the MedPage editorial but also on the many articles COCHS has featured in these Weekly Updates over the years.

For far too long, an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality has allowed the dysfunction in correctional healthcare to persist. But that may be starting to change. With 1115 waivers becoming active, Federally Qualified Health Centers now able to submit change-of-scope modifications to provide services in correctional facilities, and, as of this month, eligible juveniles behind bars gaining a statutory entitlement to Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) services, these policy shifts could mark the beginning of progress in addressing systemic challenges. From COCHS’ perspective, however, the challenge these new policies face lies in their integration into the workflow of our carceral system, where the healthcare standards implicit in these reforms must coexist in an environment where correctional safety and security remain primary.

To underscore just how many new policies are coming into effect, this week’s Highlighted Stories include a slew of 1115 waivers with reentry provisions recently approved by CMS. These waivers come from Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, while Nevada has submitted one for public comment. Importantly, the final highlighted article examines data-sharing in the context of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023—an issue that will also play a key role in 1115 waivers as individuals transition from carceral settings to their communities.

Healthcare In Correctional Settings

U.S. carceral institutions are empirically premature death-producing institutions. Alleged substandard medical care is not what's notable. It's the fact that it's rarely inflicted upon someone rich or powerful like Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein's legal team has brought litigation claiming substandard medical care while he has been incarcerated. What Weinstein and his attorneys are learning has long been known to incarcerated people and their families: care rarely happens in a cage. Jails too often fail to meet medical standards for even common chronic conditions. For those requiring expensive medications or stigmatized conditions such as opioid use disorder, the picture can be even worse. For us, as individuals who work at the intersection of the health and legal systems, it is somewhat frustrating that Weinstein's legal complaint has garnered so much media attention. That being said, national attention is welcome as much of the harm done in carceral spaces is enabled by an overwhelming lack of transparency.

In an October 2017 photo, the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center (MASAC) looked more like a prison than an addiction treatment center. MASAC has been controversial for years, and a lawsuit filed in 2019 to force its closure remains ongoing. The facility houses men who have been civilly committed for alcohol or substance use disorder. In 2020, then-governor Charlie Baker’s administration made major changes to improve conditions at MASAC and make it more like a treatment facility than a jail. But even if conditions are better than they once were, advocates say there remains no reason why civilly committed men should be housed in a jail. “Using a correctional facility to treat men for substance use who have not been charged with any crime has harmed those men and signaled to the community that addiction is a crime when in fact it’s a disease,” said Bonnie Tenneriello, senior staff attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services. Massachusetts is the only state that uses a jail for civil commitments.

Medicaid 1115 Waivers

Arizona will cover a set of pre-release benefits for certain individuals who are inmates residing in a prison, jail, youth correctional facility, or tribal correctional facility (herein after referred to as “correctional facilities”). To qualify for services covered under this demonstration approval, individuals residing in a correctional facility must have been determined eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (or be eligible for CHIP except for their incarceration status) pursuant to an application filed before or during incarceration, and have an expected release date within 90 days

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is approving Michigan’s (the “state”) request for a five-year section 1115(a) demonstration entitled, “Reentry Services”, which is effective from the date of approval and will remain in effect through the demonstration approval period, which is set to expire December 31, 2029. Approval of this demonstration provides expenditure authority for limited coverage for certain services furnished to certain incarcerated individuals for up to 90 days immediately prior to the individual’s expected date of release.

Pennsylvania will cover a set of pre-release benefits for certain individuals who are inmates residing in prisons and jails. To qualify for services covered under this demonstration approval, individuals residing in a correctional facility have been determined eligible for Medicaid pursuant to an application filed before or during incarceration, be age 19 or older, have an expected release date within 90 days, and meet one or more of the following health-related criteria

This component of the demonstration will provide coverage for pre-release services up to 90 days immediately prior to the expected date of release to qualifying Medicaid individuals who are residing in a state correctional facility. The objective of this component of the demonstration is to facilitate individuals’ access to certain healthcare services and case management, provided by Medicaid participating providers, while individuals are incarcerated and allow them to establish relationships with community-based providers from whom they can receive services upon reentry to their communities.

The proposed Demonstration seeks to strengthen connections across Medicaid, carceral settings, health and social services agencies, community-based providers, and other entities to promote the health and wellbeing of justice-involved individuals and support their successful reentry into the community. To support implementation, Nevada is also seeking $19.5 million total computable in capacity building funding to provide start-up funding to correctional facilities and implementing partners for the planning and implementation of reentry services.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Data Sharing

Data exchange is vital for ensuring that youth who are incarcerated receive Medicaid/CHIP pre-release services and for successfully linking youth to appropriate services in their communities. Data exchanges to support appropriate care and facilitate linkages will play an important role in the provision of services required under section 5121 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. For example, case managers providing TCM services will likely require access to information on a youth’s health and social needs to develop a care plan. But navigating legal frameworks governing data use and privacy can be challenging, particularly in the context of cross-sector collaborations.

Issues In Corrections

Prison healthcare budgets have struggled to keep pace with growing needs, leading many facilities to outsource care to for-profit providers. With fixed per-patient revenue, these companies are incentivized to cut costs and avoid expensive procedures. Both prisons and private contractors often rely on less-trained providers, like licensed practical nurses, to reduce staffing expenses. Many prisons have only one doctor, and recruitment and retention issues are so severe that contractors have frequently employed doctors with long histories of complaints. As these problems grew in the 1980s and 1990s, Congress and the Supreme Court made it harder for prisoners to seek relief. The 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act imposed strict requirements, including preliminary screenings, to limit frivolous lawsuits over inadequate medical care.

When healthcare needs come up against an arduous and expensive sick call process, people are forced to jump through arbitrary hoops just to see a doctor — or delay or forgo medical care altogether — as their health deteriorates. The researchers found that prison systems with more expensive medical copays (relative to prison wages) limit access to necessary healthcare for incarcerated pregnant people and those with chronic conditions more than prisons with no copays or copays equivalent to or less than one week’s prison wage.

Prison violence remains a significant yet underreported issue in the U.S. criminal justice system. A team of researchers has conducted a study aimed at understanding prison violence to develop strategies for reducing and preventing it. Among their findings: the vast majority of guilty violent infractions can be attributed to a minority of incarcerated individuals; most violence (71 percent) occurred between incarcerated persons, while 29 percent was directed at staff; physical injuries were reported in 42 percent of assaultive incidents between incarcerated persons and 21 percent of staff assault incidents; most interviewed incarcerated persons said violence lead to social withdrawal, hypervigilance, distrust, and vulnerability; and staff reported frequent threats and physical acts of violence and poor mental health.

Recreational use of drug-soaked paper strips (hereafter, strips) in correctional facilities poses a major public health risk owing to the diverse and potentially severe toxic effects of the substances they contain. Understanding the clinical manifestations and outcomes of exposure to these strips is important for developing effective management and prevention strategies. Strips primarily contained synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, nitazene opioids, and other novel psychoactive substances.

Across the United States, state prison systems are grappling with chronic understaffing and overcrowding — dual crises that are keeping incarcerated people confined to their cells for far longer periods than in recent decades. Prisons in many states have implemented prolonged lockdowns. In some cases they have intensified tensions within prison walls, at times contributing to violence between incarcerated people and staff, increased drug use and deaths by suicide. The long-standing issues of understaffing and overcrowding in U.S. prisons were brought into sharper focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, when widespread lockdown restrictions and severe staffing shortages further strained correctional facilities.

BOP

A North Carolina federal prison supervisor has been convicted after investigators say he instructed a correctional officer to physically punish a man incarcerated at the institution by beating him. Daniel Mitchell, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant, pleaded guilty earlier this week to a felony charge of conspiring to violate civil rights, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement. The beating happened at the Federal Correctional Institute Butner. The prison houses more than 1,600 people.

Two prison employees have been convicted in connection to the death of an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Petersburg. On the weekend before Christmas, a lieutenant — identified as 47-year-old Shronda Covington of Chesterfield — and a registered nurse — 52-year-old Tonya Farley of Chesterfield — were convicted of several charges related to the death of an inmate. Covington was convicted of violating the civil rights of an inmate by showing deliberate indifference to the inmate’s serious medical needs. Both defendants were found guilty of making false statements to a federal agent with the intent to obstruct the investigation into the inmate’s death.

Caring for prisoners at BOP medical centers continues to experience issues. A recent OIG report detailed an inspection of FMC Devens where it found significant staffing shortages where 20% of positions in Correctional Services were vacant, as well as 24% in Health Services and 39% in Psychology Services. The Trump administration has pledged an overhaul of the Department of Justice, signaling plans to expand the use of the death penalty and Presidential Pardons. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, is expected to assume the role in 2025, bringing a new direction to federal enforcement and corrections policy.

An Illinois union is stepping up to spotlight mental health resources for correctional officer, aiming to address a crisis impacting those in corrections. For Michelle Schwarz, the mission is deeply personal. Her husband, Blake, a correctional officer at Federal Correctional Institution Thomson in Illinois, died by suicide. In October 2024, a bill named in honor of Blake was introduced to Congress to expand access to mental health resources for Bureau of Prisons officers. The bill, called Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2024 (HR 9929), would require the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to establish grants for mental health screenings and referrals for corrections officers in federal and contracted facilities.

Data & Statistics

In this cross-sectional study of 32 623 individuals 55 years or older in prisons, disability prevalence was significantly higher compared with 13 877 665 older individuals in the community after adjusting for demographic characteristics. The difference was particularly stark for cognitive difficulty among older adults in prisons, at 15.2% vs 7.1%.

This report provides preliminary statistics on key items from the annual prisons data collection. The statistics feature information on all incarcerated individuals under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities and those sentenced to more than 1 year under the same authorities.

State Roundup

Arizona

Santos Silva, an inmate who died in June at the state prison in Yuma just days after undergoing hernia repair surgery succumbed from an unrelated and natural cause. However, a fellow inmate wrote to U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver and told her Silva had repeatedly asked to be seen by a health care provider after having surgery. Arizona has been struggling for more than a decade to improve its prison health care as it worked to deal with a lawsuit alleging its efforts fell far below constitutional standards. Judge Silver ruled more than two years ago that the state had acted with "deliberate indifference'' to the problems and failed to provide health care that met constitutional standards.

California

Adventist Health Bakersfield will be getting rid of their Fifth Floor California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) inmate unit. The hospital says, on any given night, an average of 8 beds were full out of the 22 beds in the locked unit. The hospital adds that there is a better use for the space. Adventist Health says that the patients who belong in a locked facility will be transferred to other facilities and will not be redistributed into different rooms or different floors within Adventist Health.

Newly released videos and reports provide further evidence that sheriff’s deputies in Riverside County missed signs that a murder suspect awaiting trial at a Southern California jail was planning on taking his life. Among other failures, deputies did not complete a required security check before the man was found unresponsive in his cell, according to documents and video footage released by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The death was among five suicides in Riverside County jails in recent years, several of which occurred after the department failed to intervene when detainees covered their cell cameras in mental health housing units or made suicidal statements.

Florida

A federal district court judge has rejected a preliminary injunction request, allowing enforcement of a new Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) policy aimed at withholding gender-affirming medical care to those diagnosed with gender dysphoria and forcing transgender women into their male gender assigned at birth. On September 30, 2024, the Florida Department of Corrections issued a bulletin which suggests those seeking hormone therapy may have endured “short-termed delusions or beliefs which may later be changed and reversed” and recommended against providing any gender-affirming medical care unless extensive barriers are overcome.

An Okaloosa County government-commissioned investigation has led to allegations of misconduct against Nolan Weeks, the former head of the county jail. Nolan Weeks was accused of engaging in conduct that could be described as "unfair trade practices, and abuse of his position and a conflict of interest." Weeks used his position as jail director and solicited business for HealthCred from other jails across the state. HealthCred was owned by Weeks' brother, Chad LaBoy. At a regional corrections conference, multiple witnesses reported that Weeks distributed promotional materials for HealthCred and described the company as a successful provider of ACA enrollment services at the Okaloosa County Jail. But in the jail inmate enrollments dropped by more than 40%.

Georgia

The Georgia Department of Corrections is receiving yet another slate of recommendations to improve its ability to operate secure and safe facilities. A Georgia Senate study committee said at its final meeting on Friday, Dec. 13, that it wants the General Assembly to raise correctional officer salaries, increase mental health services, audit vendor contracts and form a consistent culture among wardens. But, it stopped short of creating independent oversight.

Georgia lawmakers should consider expanding mental health services, staffing and de-escalation training to address deaths and neglect at state prisons, a panel of lawmakers said last week. The panel voted Friday for recommendations for the Georgia legislature to consider when it convenes in January. Two months ago, the Justice Department said it would sue if state prison officials didn’t act swiftly to curb the violations of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it has reached a proposed consent decree with Fulton County over jail conditions the department said violated the U.S. Constitution. The agreement comes after a Nov. 14 report that called jail conditions symptomatic of a pattern of dangerous and dehumanizing conditions. “Detention in the Fulton County Jail amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who have been murdered or who died as a result of inhumane conditions inside the facility,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Maryland

A federal judge on Friday dealt the state of Maryland two setbacks in its efforts to extricate itself from a decades-long federal lawsuit over health care and mental health services in Baltimore’s jails. U.S. Judge Matthew J. Maddox rejected the state’s preferred choices for an “independent medical monitor,” or a doctor who will gauge its compliance with the terms of an 8-year-old settlement agreement in the case. Maddox also ordered the state to turn over contested records that could shed light on how often people with severe mental illness are getting out of their cells (The Weekly Update began covering this story in the Editor’s Note of December 23, 2024.)

New York State

New York's governor ordered prison reforms and began the process of firing corrections officers who earlier this month beat a restrained Black inmate who died a few hours later. Kathy Hochul's office said in a written statement that she visited the Marcy Correctional Facility in central New York, where inmate Robert Brooks' beating was captured on body-worn cameras. Video of the violence was released last week by the state's attorney general, who is investigating Brooks' death. Hochul met with some inmates at the facility.

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York installed a new top leader at the upstate prison where 14 corrections workers have been implicated in a fatal attack on an inmate that was captured on video. After a visit to the prison, the Marcy Correctional Facility, Ms. Hochul said she had directed the state’s corrections commissioner to immediately replace the acting superintendent with a permanent superintendent from another New York prison.

The investigation into the death of inmate Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility is heading to the federal level. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albany office says agents and members of the Department of Justice are reviewing the incident to determine what the federal response should be. Body camera footage released last week by the New York Attorney General’s office shows correctional officers hitting Brooks while he was restrained at the prison on Dec. 9. He died the next day at a hospital in Utica.

In a video that has made international headlines, a group of guards at Marcy prison upstate, some with smiles, punch and kick a handcuffed prisoner who died seven hours later. For many formerly incarcerated New Yorkers, the scene of a handcuffed Robert Brooks, 43, being beaten by a team of state prison correction officers while in a medical bed on Dec. 10 was not shocking at all. “That’s just how the system is. It’s been going on forever,” said Greg Mingo, who served nearly 40 years in state prison before he was granted clemency in 2021.

Ohio

The family of a man who died in the Cuyahoga County Jail in 2022 has sued the county and MetroHealth. Edrick Brooks died as he waited to be sent to a hospital on Dec. 9, 2022. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner ruled he died of high blood pressure and heart disease. He was suffering from serious medical problems at the time, yet jail employees “took no steps” to treat Brooks. He was taken to the jail’s sallyport area to be transferred to MetroHealth for treatment, but was left unattended. He was found unresponsive about 2:41 a.m. and pronounced dead 16 minutes later.

Oklahoma

The planned Mental and Behavior Care Center component of a new Oklahoma County jail is off, and the nearly $40 million reserved for it will be distributed to meet other needs, officials said, after last-ditch mediation between the county and city over the jail site failed this week. The county's lawsuit against the city asserting superior sovereignty — and the right to build a jail and health center at 1901 E Grand Blvd. over the city's objections — will continue, county commissioners said after meeting the day after Christmas in hopes of a compromise being reached. The county and city went into mediation with just a few days left for the Board of County Commissioners to vote to build the health center using the nearly $40 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. The ARPA deadline was Dec. 31.

A recent opinion from the Oklahoma Attorney General has broken an impasse between Oklahoma County and Oklahoma City over the proposed site of a new county jail and Behavioral Health Center. The AG's intervention, requested by a state representative, has provided the green light for the project to move forward, avoiding costly litigation between the two government entities. The $40 million in funding initially earmarked for nonprofits will now be used for the mental health facility, and construction is set to begin soon to meet federal.

Editor’s Comment: What exactly is happening in Oklahoma County (Oklahoma City)? It’s not out of the ordinary that certain facilities, jurisdictions, departments of corrections or sheriff’s offices appear in the Weekly Update: New York City’s Rikers Island, Fulton County (Georgia), Arizona’s Department of Corrections, Twin Towers in Los Angeles County, San Diego County’s Sheriff’s Office…to name a few. Unfortunately, Oklahoma County’s detention center now seems to have joined the ranks of these other institutions. First there was the story about Turn Key Clinics suddenly terminating its contract at the detention facility (see Editor’s Note of September 17, 2024). As a back drop to that story, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (OCCJA), which is the governing body in control of operations at the jail had in the summer of 2024 refused the State Department of Health to exercise its right to carry out unannounced inspections (see Editor’s Note of December 10, 2024). A lower court ruled against the OCCJA and the State Department of Corrections carried out an announced inspection but is also pursuing the matter of its right to perform such inspections with the state supreme court (see Editor’s Note of December 23, 2024). At about the same time this clash with the Department of Health was occurring, the CEO of the Oklahoma County Detention Center, in a letter, accused the State Mental Health Department and Substance Abuse Services of not treating inmates properly. And now there is this current story where the State Attorney General has had to intervene in the local matter of a new jail. Maybe all parties concerned should listen to the song from the musical Oklahoma!, The Farmer and The Cowman and try to be friends, for the sake of the health of the people incarcerated in Oklahoma County.

Oregon

The mother of a former inmate who died in a state prison has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state of Oregon and Oregon Department of Corrections officials, alleging staffers failed to provide mental health care before he died. The lawsuit comes as the Oregon Department of Corrections is under scrutiny for its health care in a dozen facilities that have about 12,000 inmates statewide. Two of the agency’s top health care system administrators are on leave amid an investigation and other systemic problems, like a backlog of medical appointments and inadequate care have surfaced in the last year.

On New Year’s Eve, a visiting judge to Malheur County Circuit Court wrote that Snake River Correctional Institution repeatedly failed to treat 43-year-old Michael LaSeur’s back injuries from military combat and his PTSD. The court had previously ruled the prison needed to provide better treatment to LaSeur. While “some improvements” had been made, Judge Patricia Sullivan said in her judgment the prison still fell short of the court’s orders. Sullivan wrote that LaSeur should be freed to get proper treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Texas

After having fallen out of compliance in November, the Bexar County Jail is now in good standing with the state. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office released a statement that officials with the jail had been informed by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) that the facility was in compliance with the agency. On Nov. 19, the TCJS notified jail officials that the facility had fallen out of compliance with state standards after a series of inmate deaths. (The Weekly Update began covering this story in the Editor's Note of December 10, 2024.)

Washington State

A Washington state lawmaker has crafted legislation with the hope of improving conditions and accountability in local jails across the state. Ahead of the state’s 2025 legislative session, Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) introduced a bill that proposes creating an independent jail oversight body within the Washington State Governor’s Office. Under her bill, Senate Bill 5005, the seven-person board would meet quarterly and administer a statewide uniform jail reporting system. It would create and monitor compliance with statewide jail standards, as well as investigate and report on systemic problems affecting inmates.

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s office submitted a report to the state Legislature on Thursday on liability insurance for community-based healthcare providers. The report presents six policy options the Legislature could consider to improve the availability of health care malpractice coverage — and other liability protection options — for providers that deliver transition of care services to incarcerated individuals.

San Diego County

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office is pushing back on a recent study that found reproductive health care at the region’s only women’s jail to be lacking. Conducted by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, the study found that women incarcerated at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee face numerous challenges when trying to access reproductive care, including significant delays in treatment, deputies being present during examinations, inexperienced staff and what the study describes as “punishment and mistreatment” for seeking care. (For more context about the ongoing travails in San Diego County, see Editor's Notes of December 10, 2024 and December 23, 2024.)

Rikers Island

City correction officers repeatedly blocked medical staff from administering care to a severely ill woman held at Rikers Island weeks before the 23-year-old fell into a coma and died of apparent organ failure, a jail oversight board found. Charizma Jones was receiving treatment for a possible case of scarlet fever when she was transferred to an infirmary unit May 4 for worsening symptoms. But when medical personnel attempted to check her vital signs, they were stopped from entering her cell on six separate occasions by correction officers who cited an unspecified “security reason.”

Correctional Health Care Vendors

Wellpath

For years, Wellpath, the largest commercial provider of health care in jails and prisons across 37 states, has been the target of federal lawsuits and scrutiny by lawmakers for its practices that have been alleged to cause long-term health problems and the deaths of dozens of incarcerated individuals. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, a federal judge in Texas granted a pause in all lawsuits that involve Wellpath. Legal proceedings in such cases can take years in normal circumstances, but Wellpath's bankruptcy means dozens of those cases. A 2019 CNN investigation found that in lawsuits filed between 2014 and 2018, Correct Care Solutions (CCS), Wellpath's predecessor, was accused of contributing to more than 70 jail deaths. (As our subscribers know, the Weekly Update has included many stories about Wellpath's bankruptcy, healthcare delivery and business practices. See Editor's Notes of November 12, 2024, September 24, 2024 and January 30, 2024.)

Charleston County again is the subject of a civil rights lawsuit alleging that medical malpractice and inadequate care at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center resulted in the death of pretrial detainee D'Angelo Dontrel Brown two years ago. The original lawsuit brought against the county and Sheriff’s Office in March 2023 has been stayed due to Wellpath LLC's recently filed bankruptcy petition. The county contracted with Wellpath to provide medical services at the detention center. Although not specifically named as a defendant in that lawsuit, Wellpath services are at the heart of the case.

A Columbia man who worked at a state-run hospital was arrested on multiple charges following an incident that involved a patient who was called a vulnerable adult, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The incidents that led to the charges happened over the summer at the WellPath Recovery Solutions facility. Brandon Oneil Stewart who worked at the hospital destroyed a patient's food tray by throwing it on the floor, stepping on it, then throwing food items at a door. he also destroyed the victim’s replacement meal by throwing it on the floor and then into the trash.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley signed off on an increase to the county’s contract with the health care provider working in county correctional facilities. The Milwaukee County Board voted to retroactively increase the contract with Wellpath by $1 million annually, beginning in April 2024 and running through the life of its contract that ends in 2026. The firm recently declared bankruptcy in an attempt to restructure more than $500 million in debt. The firm cited more than $110 million in legal settlements related to its operations in correctional facilities across the county.

Yakima County commissioners have approved a 30% increase in inmate health care costs at the county jail, raising the annual expense to $3.7 million under a renewed contract with Wellpath. The decision comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Wellpath, formerly Correct Care Solutions, which has filed for bankruptcy and is facing approximately 1,400 lawsuits nationwide, including some alleging wrongful deaths. The Yakima County jail has experienced at least six inmate deaths in the past two years. In one such case, the county is facing a $50 million claim.

PrimeCare Medical

A Bucks County inmate is alleging the county jail and its private correctional health contractor are refusing to pay for surgery to correct an injury resulting from a dental procedure while incarcerated. In a lawsuit filed last month in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, Corey A. Dick alleges PrimeCare Medical and the county corrections department agreed to the surgery, but then refused to pay after he was released on parole. The dentist allegedly acknowledged that he made an error that resulted in the breaking and removal of a less than half-inch piece of bone from his upper jawbone, the lawsuit alleges.