The prime contractor providing medical care in San Diego County jails has failed to pay outside hospitals or other specialty providers, restricting the sheriff’s department’s ability to send needy and unfit people into custody, according to newly leaked documents.
NaphCare, the Alabama correctional medical giant tasked with administering remedies in the county’s troubled criminal system, also relied on unlicensed staff, ignored requests for maintenance or replacement of appliances and failed to provide staff for many shifts, according to the documents.
“As of April 17, 2023, there was $9. 3 million in unpaid expenses owed to hospitals,” reads a once-confidential corrective action taken by NaphCare’s sheriff’s office.
“Of the notable general claims, $4. 6 million exceeds the 30-day threshold,” the December 2023 report adds. “Without payment, some in-network providers don’t need to care for or settle for our patients. “
The 23-page report came as part of a lawsuit filed by a civil rights lawyer organization opposed to San Diego County in 2022.
The litigation was originally filed in February 2022 on behalf of an organization of patients with disabilities seeking to force the sheriff to perform a greater task by offering language interpretation of signs, wheelchairs, and other assistive devices necessary to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States. In the U. S.
The case has since evolved into a class-action lawsuit affecting all past, current and long-term men and women in San Diego County jails, a formula that has one of California’s death rates.
The corrective order lays out a long list of deficiencies in the functionality of NaphCare, which won the prime contract for fitness in San Diego County jails two years ago.
The document is classified as confidential but was filed in federal court in San Diego earlier this year as part of the class-action lawsuit.
The December order is the only such request issued by the sheriff in the past year. He is referring to a set of deficiencies from April 2023 that he said had been fully corrected by the end of last year.
“We have obtained your May 5, 2023 reaction, but you have not addressed certain deficiencies or provided a plan to address some of those that have been corrected,” the December sheriff’s corrective action reads.
The sheriff’s branch declined to comment on the correction orders it issued to NaphCare last spring and fall, or the quality of physical care practices in its jails. A spokesperson said the ministry’s policy precludes any public debate about the ongoing litigation.
But Sheriff Kelly Martinez and other branch officials have said in recent years that they have taken steps to help other people incarcerated in San Diego County jails.
Among other things, the branch has increased its staff and budget, especially among physical care providers. It has also improved its services and invested in new devices to book practices to better identify others who may want treatment.
Martinez also highlighted the merits of the expansion for deputies running in prisons.
“Over the last year, we’ve made a lot of progress,” the sheriff said last summer, when the branch held an open space to showcase the numerous adjustments implemented at county jails in recent months. “Mental fitness (treatment) is even more vital in prison. “
NaphCare released a statement saying the company is working intensively with the sheriff’s branch and is confident it is moving in the right direction.
“NaphCare’s project is about saving lives,” he says. Our purpose is to make sure that each and every patient we treat in San Diego County jails receives network care criteria to promote a healthy return to their network. »
The company has faced repeated lawsuits questioning the points of care it offers in state and county prisons across the United States.
Earlier this month, for example, an Arizona federal judge presiding over a case aimed at improving the living conditions of nearly 25,000 people incarcerated in a criminal state said the medical and intellectual care provided through NaphCare was “fundamentally intellectually flawed,” the Associated Press reported.
Under the umbrella of the personal enterprise, Arizona’s criminal formula is understaffed and wants to raise wages for new and existing workers, experts who oversee its physical care operations told the court. NaphCare has already won $2. 5 million in contempt penalties in the 12-year-old’s case. case.
The Alabama Correctional Fitness Contractor also offers the formula in Pima County, Arizona.
According to local media, officials imposed more than $3 million on NaphCare for breaching a number of terms and situations of its contract with the domain surrounding the city of Tucson.
San Francisco attorney Gay Grunfeld is one of the lead attorneys in the San Diego County Elegance Action Lawsuit. He said the sheriff and other officials deserved to have known about NaphCare’s questionable track record.
“Given the wide diversity of spaces where NaphCare fails in the county, it’s no surprise that we continue to get normal reports from our clients, the qualified class, about delays and poor medical, intellectual health and dental care,” she said. . email.
“NaphCare also fails to create the contractually required policies and procedures that the county desires to meet national criteria and address the highest mortality rate and unconstitutional care,” he said.
NaphCare’s general counsel admitted under oath as part of the class action lawsuit that the company would possibly not honor all of the terms of its contract with San Diego County.
In a statement earlier this month, NaphCare attorney Justin Barkley asked if his company conducts site-level reviews of local jails. “Not that I know of,” Barkley replied.
Asked if he was aware that individual reviews were required, Barkley replied: “I don’t know if I know it’s in the contract. In fact, it is part of our policy to do so. I, you know, that’s my expectation that it’s done, yes.
Health care practices in San Diego County jails have played a significant role in the persistently high number of in-custody deaths and other medical issues that have left men and women in sheriff’s care in poor health or injured.
The sheriff’s branch has witnessed an increasing number of deaths in custody and other court cases of misconduct or forgetfulness against criminal deputies and doctors in recent years.
The deaths and injuries have led to a series of lawsuits against San Diego County that have charged taxpayers at least $60 million over the years, records show.
NaphCare has contributed to some of the deficiencies in the county’s jails, according to the sheriff’s corrective action.
In addition to maintaining a dangerously low workforce, failing to pay for other services, relying on unlicensed staff, and failing to replace or repair medical equipment, the company also failed to implement the county’s medically assisted treatment program for people addicted to opioids as required. the man said.
It also claims that NaphCare failed to provide the reports required in the county contract, did not hold the required meetings, and failed to put in place an ongoing quality improvement plan as required by the 2022 agreement.
There were other issues with the point of care through NaphCare.
“As of March 9 there is no gynecological (general practitioner) provider or Las Colinas and there is no substitute present,” the amended opinion reads. “The contractor refused to pay for the abortions because he considered them ‘elective. ‘”
The lawsuit that resulted in the release of the sheriff’s corrective action sent to NaphCare is known as Dunsmore v. San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. The lead plaintiff is Darryl Dunsmore, a formerly incarcerated man who suffered from ankylosing spondylitis, a form of inflammatory disease. arthritis that left him immobilized.
Dunsmore wanted a wheelchair and a changed spoon to eat, but deputies confiscated the pieces “because he didn’t want them,” the lawsuit says.
At one point, he became distraught and was stripped naked and placed in an isolation cell, where, due to his disability, he was unable to access the bathroom, the complaint adds. They forced him to eat with his hands; He also had to urinate and defecate on the floor.
“He made a mess on his mobile phone and was forced to sleep in his own feces and other detritus,” the complaint states.
Last June, in reaction to Dunsmore’s civil rights case, county officials reached an agreement to modify showers, bathrooms and beds in local jails for situations intended for men and women with disabilities in sheriff’s custody.
But the terms of the settlement will take months and years, the case is still active, and his trial is scheduled for next year.
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