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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGov. Mike Braun’s administration has launched a review of health care concerns at the Miami Correctional Facility, which houses Indiana inmates as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees under a contract with the federal government.
U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indianapolis, has called for a federal investigation, as well.
We support the state’s action and call on federal authorities to move quickly.
The moves come after news reports, attorneys and advocates for immigrants have repeatedly raised concerns about the conditions at the prison in Bunker Hill, the medical services that the inmates receive and the staffing shortages that have caused a huge backlog for care.
An investigative report from The Indianapolis Star last month said that the state’s for-profit prison health care provider, Centurion Health, was “woefully unprepared for the influx of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees under a deal Braun’s administration struck with the federal government last year.” The story reported that two immigrant detainees had died.
The Indiana Lawyer’s Cameron Shaw wrote back in April about accusations that inmates were dealing with flooded cells, long waits for medical services and other instances of abuse.
And the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that acting ICE Director David Venturella acknowledged in a letter to Carson that over a 22-day period in April, 760 doses of medication weren’t administered to those in detention either because detainees “refused to come to the pill line,” had low blood sugar or were in court. An additional 44 doses were missed because the medication wasn’t available. That’s against 3,242 doses successfully given, the Capital Chronicle’s Jack Forrest wrote on July 30.
Given the allegations and ICE’s own reports, investigations into Centurion Health’s work and the prison conditions overall are certainly warranted and likely overdue.
As The Indiana Lawyer’s Shaw has reported, the state in March extended its contract with Virginia-based Centurion for one year, agreeing to pay the company an additional $213 million to provide health care services to state prisons.
The contract, which was originally signed in 2021, now extends through March 31, 2027. By then, the state will have spent more than $1 billion on health care services with the company.
But records show that the state is making moves this summer to consider other options. The latest extension gives the Indiana Department of Correction the ability to terminate the agreement sooner, and an internal email indicates that the agency will be exploring other options.
The Indiana Department of Administration has said that it anticipates publishing a correctional health care request for proposals this month that could eventually lead to a new health care vendor — or a new deal with Centurion that will provide enough staffing to adequately serve state and federal inmates.
In the meantime, state and federal authorities must conduct thorough investigations of the conditions that exist today — and address problems immediately. And they must also hold private and public officials accountable for inhumane conditions and inadequate care — not only for the inmates who suffered those problems but also for the taxpayers who funded the contracts.•
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