Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (https://kycir.org/series/private-healthcare-woes-in-kentucky-jails/)
An examination of a health care system that runs counter to national standards, and often falls far short of meeting medical needs. While Kentucky counties look to cut costs, for-profit companies have stepped in. But inmates are suffering and state officials aren’t doing anything about it.
A lawsuit resulting from the 2013 death of an inmate in the Montgomery County jail has been settled for more than $400,000. Ronald Gaunce’s death was detailed in a 2015 KyCIR series on jail health care woes.
A federal judge says there is evidence that a doctor, a nurse and the Montgomery County jailer all demonstrated “deliberate indifference” to the needs of an inmate who died in the jail. The inmate was featured in a KyCIR series last year on jail health care woes.
Legislation designed to hold Kentucky’s jailers more accountable has achieved mixed results so far in this year’s General Assembly.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections has named Rodney Ballard, Fayette County’s jailer, as its new commissioner.
A panel to review deaths and near-deaths in Kentucky’s correctional facilities would be created by legislation introduced in the state House of Representatives. The proposal was sparked by KyCIR’s investigations into jail deaths.
Throughout our extensive reporting on jails this year, one group has been relatively quiet: the Kentucky Jailers Association.
Despite evidence, court settlements and sharp judicial opinions, Kentucky’s Department of Corrections rarely probes deeply when a jail inmate dies. The agency has not sanctioned a single jail in connection with the more than 140 inmate deaths in the past five-and-a-half years.
An examination of a health care system that runs counter to national standards, and often falls far short of meeting medical needs. While Kentucky counties look to cut costs, for-profit companies have stepped in. But inmates are suffering and state officials aren’t doing anything about it.