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Prison Health Providers Withheld Reports

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Florida Department of Corrections
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

 Private health firms did not provide the Florida Department of Corrections multiple reports on inmate deaths, or provided the information in part or after deadlines, the Palm Beach Post reports.

The contractors, Corizon Inc. and Wexford Health Sources, were cited in 33 different reviews of inmate deaths, the Post reports. Corizon oversees health care for about 75,000 of the state’s 100,000 inmates.

In a related case, a Florida senator has filed a bill to restructure the state’s prison system by removing the in-house inspector general and creating an independent oversight board, according to the Miami Herald. Sen. Rob Bradley R-Fleming Island, said the oversight board’s investigators will hold the Department of Corrections more accountable following a string of suspicious inmates deaths and abuse allegations, the Herald reports.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.