For far too many years, the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and few other outlets have produced some of the only serious reporting on the Massachusetts Department of Correction. We’re proud of our work but that’s not meant as bravado. Rather it’s to repeat our frequent lament that it is a shame how state and local media ignore the population behind bars, the families impacted, and the tremendous complex cost to taxpayers.
With that said, even in the dwindling Mass media, there has been increased attention on the DOC these past few weeks. It’s taken multiple deaths for the department to get mentioned on the five o’clock news beyond puff pieces on beekeeping and rescue dog programs for prisoners, but that’s not all. Irene Rotondo at MassLive is closely following a series of alarming “medical emergencies” at various state institutions, with her latest, on Oct. 29, noting the fifth death in the system in just over a month. She reports:
The death happened on Tuesday at 4:15 a.m. at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security facility in Shirley, according to the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC). An incarcerated man had a “medical emergency” at the prison, and “staff immediately began to administer life-saving measures and called 911,” a spokesperson for the DOC said.
Rotondo also writes: “No foul play is believed to have been involved, though the man’s official cause and manner of death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.” It’s a familiar situation: “This is the fifth person reported to have died within a correctional facility in Massachusetts over the past month. This includes another incarcerated man who died at Souza-Baranowski on Oct. 3 and three people who died at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk. Their deaths happened on Sept. 20, Sept. 27 and Oct. 20.”
Prison health care in Massachusetts
We will have to wait for the decisions by the medical examiner, if they are ever released, to know exactly what happened with the prisoners who died this month. But we do know quite a bit about health care in the DOC; notably, how the state’s last prison health care contract brought despair and congressional scrutiny, while the new vendor got off to a troubling start.
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 that followed, 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; and Medical record keeping. And now we have these deaths in front of that backdrop, all in addition to the dreadful anecdotal evidence of neglect detailed by Eliza’s sources.
Regarding the recent incidents, a DOC spokesperson told MassLive: “Our staff responded immediately in each instance and worked alongside emergency responders to provide life-saving measures. … The DOC remains deeply committed to ensuring incarcerated individuals have access to comprehensive mental health and substance use services.”
Reporting done by BINJ and others, however, call such claims into question. Per MassLive, “According to a public records request, the DOC saw 19 in-custody deaths in 2024, 21 in 2023 and 28 in 2022. … The most recent reported death at Souza would bring this year’s reported death numbers to 20. Based on the official causes of death the DOC has received from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner so far this year through June 15, three are listed as suicides. Five are listed as ‘unexpected.’”
That’s not all
Anybody wondering if so many alleged horrors playing out inside the DOC are real or mere exaggerations ought to look into the settlement announced this week between Mass and more than 150 prisoners who “alleged they were beaten, attacked with dogs, racially targeted and retaliated against after an attack on correction officers.” WBUR reported that “those who have been released will receive between $10,000 and $40,000 after a crackdown at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in 2020.” The total of the settlements: $6.75 million.
“The lawsuit said correction officers and correctional tactical teams engaged in a ‘brutal and calculated collective revenge’ against individuals who were not involved in the initial attack. … The suit said officers used Taser guns, pepper ball guns, chemical agents and dogs against prisoners. According to the suit, dozens of prisoners were also forced to kneel against a wall with their hands and ankles shackled for hours.”
