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Corrections Concerns Current prison health workers say they fear retaliation if they speak out
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Corrections ConcernsCurrent prison health workers say they fear retaliation if they speak out.by Dan FroschJust days before state legislators convene a hearing on correctional health care in New Mexico, a group of medical employees in the state prison system have come to SFR with allegations about how inmates are treated. All four requested anonymity because they say they fear retaliation from Wexford Health Sources — the private company that administers health care in the prisons — if their identities are revealed. The employees currently work at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility. They allege, among other things, that chronically ill inmates are forced to lie in their own feces for hours, are taken off vital medicine to save money and often wait months before receiving treatment for urgent medical conditions. Moreover, the employees say conditions at the facility are unsanitary. “In my entire career, I’ve never seen this sort of stuff happening,” one employee says. “These inmates are not being treated humanely. They don’t live in sanitary conditions. They live in pain.” Wexford Vice President Elaine Gedman denies all the employees’ allegations in an email response to SFR. Corrections spokeswoman Tia Bland says the department is unaware of these allegations and that “none of these issues have surfaced during our regular auditing process.” The employees’ allegations come on the heels of a series of stories by SFR, in which several former Wexford employees have publicly come forward with similar charges [Cover Story, Aug. 9: “Hard Cell?”]. As a result of the stories, the state Legislature’s Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee will hold a hearing on Oct. 20 in Hobbs to discuss the matter [Outtakes, Sept. 13: “Checkup”]. Wexford and the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD), which oversees the Pennsylvania-based company, have categorically denied charges that inmates are being denied proper health care. These latest allegations are the first to come from current employees of Wexford. The employees describe an environment where medical staff must purchase their own wipes for incontinent patients because they say Wexford administrators say there’s no money for supplies. They say there’s a shortage of oxygen tanks and nebulizer machines (for asthma patients) and also scant protective equipment for those staff treating infectious diseases. Gedman says, “Wexford is unaware of any shortage in medical supplies. Extra oxygen bottles and nebulizers are always on hand and ready for any emergency use. The oxygen bottles are inventoried daily as part of our emergency response requirement.” The employees also allege that chronically ill inmates sometimes wait what they say is too long to be taken off-site for specialty care. Gedman says this also is false and that Wexford “strongly encourages all of our providers to refer patients for necessary evaluation and treatment, off-site when necessary, as soon as problems are identified that need specialty referral.” All four employees say their complaints to Wexford administrators about the lack of supplies and treatment of inmates have been ignored, and all believe coming forward publicly will cost them their jobs. Gedman says this concern is unfounded because “Wexford encourages an open-door policy for all employees to bring issues to the attention of management so that they can be investigated and acted upon as appropriate.” Bland says Corrections staff are “visible and accessible in the prisons. If any of Wexford’s staff would like to speak with us concerning these allegations, we welcome the information and will certainly look into the matter.” As for the legislative hearing, State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, R-Doña Ana, co-chairman of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, says he hopes some of these Wexford critics will show up in Hobbs. And he says further hearings are a possibility. “I hope there is a full airing of the issues. I would like to learn that the Corrections Department is working to resolve all of this, but if they haven’t, I expect to make deadlines for them so we can expect adequate progress,” Cervantes says. “We’d still like to protect the anonymity and bring to light any allegations and complaints.” Cervantes also says he wants to introduce legislation during the next session to protect whistle-blowers. Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Institute watchdog group in Florida, says the Legislature must do everything it can to safeguard current Wexford employees against retaliation. “The Legislature is the ultimate authority, and they need to put pressure on the Corrections Department to find out what the hell is going on. They also need to protect these employees so they can come forward and testify about their specific experiences,” Kopczynski says. “And if there are allegations of civil rights abuse, which is what it sounds like, then the Justice Department needs to come in.” #
Lawmakers request independent audit of prison health care.by Dan FroschFollowing months of reports that state inmates are suffering behind bars due to deficient medical services, a state legislative committee has requested a special audit of health care in New Mexico’s state prisons. During an Oct. 20 hearing at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, members of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee voted unanimously to ask for the audit, which will focus on Wexford Health Sources, the private company that contracts with the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD). The company’s operation in New Mexico has been the subject of a three-month investigative series by SFR, during which former and current Wexford employees have come forward with allegations of problematic health services for inmates [Cover Story, Aug. 9: “Hard Cell?”]. As a result of the series, the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee decided to address the issue during a regularly scheduled hearing in Hobbs [Outtakes, Sept. 13: “Checkup”]. Norbert Sanchez, a nurse suspended by Wexford in September after an alleged dispute with health administrators, spoke at the hearing about problems he witnessed at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas. Sanchez recalled witnessing a wheelchair-bound inmate who sat in his own feces for hours and a sick inmate who missed critical doses of medicine for congestive heart failure. Sanchez also expressed concerns that echo those raised previously to SFR by other former and current Wexford staff: a systemic lack of medical supplies, failure to properly dole out prescription drugs and reluctance to send sick inmates off-site for specialized treatment. Though he was the only former Wexford employee in attendance, Sanchez referred legislators to a packet he’d disseminated with testimony from current Wexford employees. Those employees feared retaliation if they came forward, Sanchez said. ACLU New Mexico staff attorney George Bach testified that his organization has been hearing similar concerns from Wexford employees and that many are, indeed, afraid to go public. “These employees are so passionate about this issue that if you called them to testify, I’m certain they would do it,” Bach said. Both NMCD and Wexford refuted Sanchez’ and Bach’s allegations. Devendra Singh, NMCD’s quality assurance manager for health services, hashed through the nationally approved correctional health care standards to which he said the Corrections Department adheres. He also pointed to the strict auditing process he said NMCD uses to monitor Wexford. “We go for auditing for every inch of every aspect of care,” Singh said. Wexford President and CEO Mark Hale said his Pennsylvania-based company is subject to more stringent oversight in New Mexico than in any other state where it operates. “If inmates need health care, they get it,” Hale, who categorized the attacks on Wexford as deriving from disgruntled ex-employees, said. But Singh’s and Hale’s assurances were not enough for the legislators on hand, who peppered the two with questions. At one point, State Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, referred to a recent SFR story in which a current Wexford employee at Central decried treatment of inmates as inhumane and noted that never before had the employee seen such deficiencies in health care [Outtakes, Oct. 18: “Corrections Concerns”]. “That’s pretty darn scary to me,” Wirth said of the allegation. Committee co-chairman and State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Doña Ana, questioned Singh’s assertion that medical complaints from inmates are rare and noted that on a tour of Lea County Correctional Facility the previous night, legislators had heard numerous inmate concerns about medical problems. Co-chairman Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Bernalillo, said on the same tour he’d seen an inmate suffering from a visible cystic infection. The cyst should have easily been identified through only a “cursory” medical evaluation, McSorley said. Corrections Secretary Joe Williams said his agency welcomes a special audit of health care in the prisons. Legislators agreed that such an audit, under the aegis of the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), should be conducted by an independent third party and include accounts from current Wexford employees who could remain anonymous. LFC Chairman Lucky Varela, D-Santa Fe, says he has not yet received an official request from the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, but will be keeping an eye out. “We will seriously consider looking at the Corrections component to see what type of health care and what type of contracts are being approved by the Corrections Department,” Varela says. Indeed, for Peter Wirth, the logical next step is an audit that examines Wexford’s services and NMCD’s oversight and that allows current employees to speak freely. Says Wirth: “We really need to hear more from these folks. Obviously, we’ve begun a dialogue here, and we don’t want to short-change it.” #
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