He fought with administrators for months to obtain dialysis for a prisoner and, in another case, a full year for treatment for a cancer patient. Vallejo further reported that emergency response kits were routinely raided for supplies that were not replaced, and thus were missing when needed. Short staffing was only the tip of the iceberg. We can’t pass medicines that somebody else has poured. Supervisors repeatedly ordered Vallejo and his co-workers to improperly set up and distribute medications. In protest of not receiving their medications, SMU-1 prisoners set their building on fire. “We’re putting people’s lives on the line,” he added.įor example, diabetic prisoners received their morning insulin so late they would not even be peaking before their afternoon doses.
Vallejo reported that he had to make decisions “that someone with more education should be doing,” which led to dangerous situations. He said he had never before seen such a high staff turnover rate, and that “Corizon is just hiring bodies, trying to get their numbers up.” Once on the job, he worked 12 hours a day for four or more days weekly, up to 150 hours every two weeks due to dangerously low staffing levels. Vallejo was supposed to be trained for two weeks before beginning work but received only two days of instruction. Under its contract, Corizon was to maintain a 90 percent staffing level at all times with properly trained employees. He primarily worked with the most acutely mentally ill prisoners who were housed in the SMU-1 unit. Jose Vallejo, a former police officer and prison guard, was employed as a licensed vocational nurse at ADC’s State Prison Complex-Eyman in Florence for two years, beginning in December 2016. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver appointed an expert to review the ADC’s healthcare system operated by Corizon amid allegations by multiple whistleblowers that the for-profit company was skirting state auditors, violating regulations and risking the lives of prisoners who relied on the firm for medical care. Time would prove the company was no better at providing medical care to Arizona prisoners than it was anywhere else, and as a result the Parsons case was eventually reopened. The state contracted with Corizon Health to provide medical services for the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC), even though the company had been plagued with problems and lawsuits over its failure to provide adequate medical care to prisoners in other jurisdictions.Īs part of the Parsons settlement, the ADC set up a monitoring board to oversee Corizon’s contractual performance. Ryan, a lawsuit over healthcare in Arizona’s prison system. I n 2014, a settlement was reached in Parsons v. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on G+ Share with email
0 kommentar(er)
