Facing $1.2 Million Fine, ADC Blames Corizon-Centurion Handoff for Its Failures

[TexasTowelie]

A new, $1.2 million fine is hanging over the Arizona Department of Corrections for its years-long failure to provide inmates with decent medical care.

In court documents filed Friday in the class-action prison health care case Parsons v. Ryan, which was settled in 2014, Assistant Arizona Attorney General Michael Gottfried and four private attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver not to penalize the Department of Corrections.

They claimed that the transition in June and July from one private for-profit prison health care provider, Corizon Health Inc., to another, Centurion Managed Care, has been rocky. That was why ADC has yet to meet some two dozen court-ordered standards for adequate medical care, they tried to explain.

"As a result of this transition, there were several delays and interferences with Defendants' ability to monitor compliance with the [performance measures]," they wrote.

Read more: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-corrections-fine-ryan-federal-judge-corizon-centurion-prison-11347261