Last year, Massachusetts declined to renew its contract with the prison health care provider Wellpath. The company was hit with more than 1,500 lawsuits nationwide for alleged medical negligence or wrongful death of prisoners, and Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey had scrutinized the vendor over reports of poor care in the commonwealth. Wellpath later filed for bankruptcy.
Last summer, Massachusetts opted for a new prison health care vendor, the Kansas-based VitalCore Health Strategies. In the year since, BINJ contributor Eliza Dewey closely examined the company’s performance thus far in Mass to gauge how much of a difference the vendor switch made for the state’s prison health care system, if any.
Through analysis of public records and interviews and correspondence with more than two dozen sources—incarcerated people, recently released prisoners, attorneys, and former VitalCore staff—it appears that, a year into its five-year, $770 million contract, VitalCore has struggled to improve significantly in several critical areas including:
- Staffing levels
- Mental health care
- Workplace culture
- Specialty care and follow-up appointments
- Medical record keeping
Read the new feature on HorizonMass here and on The Shoestring here.
