Florida Corrections Secretary, Mike Crews' letter advises Corizon that if the level of health care is not immediately raised to acceptable levels, Florida will with hold contractual payments, and consider ending their relationship with Corizon.
Maybe, the bad blood between the Florida Department of Corrections, coupled with the litigation Volusia County has suffered under Corizon, influenced the Volusia County Council's recent vote not to renew the inmate health care contract with Corizon? Corizon failed to secure any votes in their favor. The contract was awarded to
.
Why Jail & Prison Health Is So Important To The General Health Of The Public
What State And Local Officials Don't Want The Public To Know
These Private Inmate Health Care Companies Financially Depend On Weak Medical Oversight Protocols
Florida County Jails
The Honor System On Jail Oversight
In October 1996 the Florida legislature gave up on government oversight of their county jails. For decades prior, Florida county jails were answerable to state inspections and oversight via Florida Administrative Code 33-8 (FAC33-8). These mandatory inspections and oversight authority included, the adherence to very strict medical standards and protocols.
Upon the discontinuation of the FAC 33-8 oversight system, the Florida legislature authorized a new system of jail oversight operated by the
. This new inspection and oversight system is referred to as
.
Last month (September 2014),
that highlighted our concerns and displeasures with the FMJS oversight system.
Some of our concerns were highlighted by the FMJS Commissioners themselves, during the last meeting of the FMJS Committee (September 2014). Six (6) county correctional facilities have authorized exemptions of having to meet
minimal FMJS health care standards. However, in reality all county correctional facilities are exempt from all FMJS standards, due to the fact that participation in the FMJS oversight system is totally voluntary. Further, unlike in the previous FAC 33-8 oversight system, the FMJS Commission has no enforcement authority.
Maybe after eighteen (18) years under this
voluntary, and
honor system based jail oversight system - some of the causation for the Escambia County's jail explosion last April (2014) is not as elusive as first thought?
2011 - Florida Legislature Kisses Medical Oversight In Their Prison System Goodbye
Couple This With The 1996 Repeal Of FAC 33-8,
And It's Christmas 365 Days A Year, For The Private Inmate Health Care Industry
As discussed in a , the 2011 Florida Legislature decided that it was a smart idea to de-fund the Florida Correctional Medical Authority (CMA) - the medical oversight authority within the state's prison system. Heck, even Governor Scott attempted to veto the disbandment of the CMA - but his veto was over-ridden by the legislature.
With the CMA quickly laid to rest - Corizon was able to successfully secure their 2013 1.2
Billion dollar contract with the Florida Department of Corrections to provide health care to Florida's prison inmates. And as earlier stated in this article, the Florida Department of Corrections now finds itself getting subpar health care from Corizon Health. With the CMA cold in it's grave - should we really be all that surprised that a
for profit prison health care provider is attempting to provide substandard health care?
Afterall - whom of importance is going to complain - surely not the prison inmates, right? I mean, after all, the politicians in the Florida Legislature probably received their well deserved election campaign donations from the appropriate private health care providers - right? So why are State Officials, like Corrections Secretary, Mike Crews rocking the boat? Could it be the
regarding some questionable prison inmates deaths, that have inspired the likes of Crews, and the Volusia County Council to see the light?
Bogus Medical Oversight Systems Only Invites Chaos
we briefly discussed how a lackadaisical jail / prison oversight system could quickly put the entire general population's health at risk.
Ironically, we expressed an opinion that the next
was awaiting discovery within one of our local jails and prisons.
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According to the attached media article, earlier this month (October 2014), the Volusia County jail had an Ebola scare. -->
A quick GOOGLE search will reveal that other jails / prisons across this nation had similar Ebola scares.
While Volusia County officials assured the public that the incident at the jail was not a threat to public safety - we (VolusiaExposed) suggest that is NOT entirely factual.
Obviously, since the jail inmate did NOT have the Ebola virus - the incident itself was not a direct threat to the general health of the entire county. However, we (VolusiaExposed) question whether the jail's, and it's
health care provider's protocols are well enough developed to deal with an infectious disease outbreak.
We (VolusiaExposed) invite our readers to review Corizon's -.
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Click Image To Review Media Article
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Take note that the screening form was developed in May 2014 - while the screening and treatment instructions were apparently updated
(OR DEVELOPED?) on October 6, 2014 - the apparent date of the jail's Ebola scare.
This is a situation that VolusiaExposed will continue to monitor.
"Police throughout the United States have been caught fabricating, planting, and manipulating evidence to obtain convictions where cases would otherwise be very weak. Some authorities regard police perjury as so rampant that it can be considered a "subcultural norm rather than an individual aberration" of police officers."
