When Paula Gardner was incarcerated within the Washington Corrections Middle for Girls in Gig Harbor, she went two years with a prognosis that confirmed she doubtless had most cancers. Nonetheless, Division of Corrections physicians didn’t administer the wanted care till her cervical most cancers grew right into a terminal situation.
Kenny Williams died in 2019 at Monroe Correctional Advanced after a battle with most cancers that went untreated for years as his pleas for medical care went ignored.
Each are examples of a widespread drawback that was dropped at mild in an investigation into how 11 inmates with most cancers have been denied enough medical therapy over a span of about 5 years main as much as 2020.
That failure price a number of folks their lives and taxpayers tens of millions of {dollars}. The state paid $9.9 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of Gardner and her sons in 2024. This yr, the most recent lawsuit introduced by the household of an inmate who died of most cancers after delayed therapy resulted in a $6 million settlement.
The issue has plagued the company for thus lengthy that it raises the query: Is it incompetence or the failure of an outdated medical system?
One would suppose a Washington governmental division would have the most recent expertise obtainable at its fingertips. Suppose once more.
In the case of inmates’ care, their medical data are nonetheless produced and up to date on paper, as an alternative of electronically like greater than 90% of Washingtonians. That should change.
The truth is, an investigative report in 2021 by the Workplace of the Corrections Ombuds cited the paper data as an issue that’s ripe for errors and contributed to the delay in medical care in a number of the 11 most cancers deaths cited. It beneficial the DOC swap to digital well being data. 4 years later, the DOC continues to be within the strategy of doing simply that. It has contracted with Epic Techniques, a medical software program developer and creator of MyChart, to maneuver the state into the twenty first century.
In most of the deaths, a scarcity of communication and follow-up was blamed for the delayed medical care. An digital system would assist alleviate that drawback. The price of a completely built-in system, one which corresponds to medical data housed by different state departments, would price upward of $100 million. Although the state is predicted to proceed with funds challenges, investing in fashionable expertise is effectively value it.
That’s as a result of the vast majority of the 13,000 folks at present incarcerated in Washington will ultimately be launched. Higher gear and higher care from extra certified medical suppliers will assist incarcerated folks as they transition into society.
Because the investigative report, the DOC has made some enhancements, together with hiring a brand new chief medical officer in 2022. The DOC additionally now requires its physicians to be nationally board licensed.
The state has a accountability to supply enough well being care to folks of their custody, no matter their legal background. Incarceration must be their punishment, not their medical therapy, or lack there of.
