Delaware State News
DOVER - Several state legislators called for action Wednesday reacting to articles in a Wilmington newspaper alleging serious lapses and neglect in the state's prisoner health care system.
The stories, which began running over the weekend, reported prisoners did not receive sufficient care, such as being given painkillers for severe headaches when the real cause was a brain tumor.
The legislators, two Republicans and a Democrat, made a series of proposals in separate statements that they said would improve oversight and quality of the health care system in state prisons.
House Majority Leader Rep. Wayne A. Smith, R-Wilmington, the highest-ranking lawmaker to speak out Wednesday, blasted Gov. Ruth Ann Minner for not taking a more active role in swiftly addressing the prison health care problems.
Gov. Minner did not comment on the legislators' proposals Wednesday, but her spokeswoman Kate Bailey said the governor and Commissioner of Corrections Stanley W. Taylor Jr. have worked to improve prison health care in recent years and would make it a priority in the future.
The governor, Ms. Bailey said, would consider input from lawmakers but said the articles in The News Journal contained errors and did not fairly represent the facts in certain cases.
Department of Correction spokeswoman Elizabeth Welch said Mr. Taylor was reviewing the legislators' statements and was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Rep. Smith predicted the General Assembly would take legislative action when it returns in January.
"By this time, I hope the governor has called the appropriate Delaware officials in to her office and read them the riot act," Rep. Smith said.
"The governor should have been all over this issue after the first story. I had a moral obligation (to do something) since I didn't see the governor doing anything."
Rep. Smith laid out four proposals he said would help inmate healthcare:
l Switching from paying medical care contractors a flat fee to paying them their costs plus an additional percentage.
Flat-fee contracts, he said, encourage companies to cut corners to improve their profit margins.
"Cost-plus contracts," he said, would allow for companies to spend enough to meet inmates' needs;
l Creating a Healthcare Inspector General to oversee the Department of Correction's $26 million contract with Correctional Medical Services. The office of the inspector general would be part of the Department of Health and Social Services, which oversees hospitals in Delaware;
l Partnering with the Delaware healthcare community to improve the quality of care in prisons;
l Screening new inmates for hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, keeping records of prisoner autopsies and retaining records of inquiries into questionable inmate deaths.
Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington, said she has addressed concerns from prisoners as she received them for several years but did not realize how widespread the problem was until she read the articles.
"I thought they were isolated cases," Sen. Henry said Wednesday. "I didn't know the whole system was sick.
"It's almost like we're in another country when you look at healthcare in prisons. It's like a Third World country."
Sen. Henry called for the state Senate to create an investigative panel of legislators, health professionals, citizens, prison reform advocates and prison personnel.
"We're spending $25 million a year and not getting our money's worth," Sen. Henry said. "Something is definitely wrong."
Sen. Henry said she has talked with Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Thurman G. Adams Jr., D-Bridgeville, about addressing the purported problems during the Senate's special session Nov. 8.
Sen. Henry and Sen. Charles L. Copeland, R-Wilmington, the third legislator to issue a call for action Wednesday, agreed that fixing the problems would require a bipartisan effort.
Sen. Copeland proposed creating an independent prison commission to explore the alleged healthcare issues and other problems the Department of Correction has faced in recent years - correctional officer understaffing and the July 2004 rape of a prison counselor.
"I played baseball. It's three strikes and you're out," Sen. Copeland said.
"After the previous two times, we were told the problems were addressed, that they were solved.
"The truth is, they were not."
Sen. Copeland believes the staffing issues have contributed to prison healthcare problems.
The senator's proposed prison commission would be comprised of national and local corrections medical experts and members of the local medical community.
Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, who chairs the Senate's prisons committee, said though he follows the state's corrections system he did not know about the serious medical care issues alleged in the newspaper's articles.
"I had heard about problems, but it was not on the level they are speaking of," Sen. Vaughn, a former commissioner of corrections, said in a Wednesday interview.
"I was aware that people have problems and are already sick when they go in there, but I am particularly interested in the part where they are sick and are released and then die in a few days."
Sen. Vaughn said he had already seen a copy of the medical-services contract before the articles were published.
His interest was piqued, he said, after he learned the state had switched vendors.
"I want to see who is supposed to be doing what," Sen. Vaughn said.
The veteran lawmaker said that after he reviews the contract and another he thinks is necessary, he could propose legislation to solve problems he uncovers.
"I'll do whatever I think is best," Sen. Vaughn said.
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
Staff writer Drew Volturo can be reached at 741-8296 or dvolturo@newszap.com.
