SYRACUSE, N.Y. — New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with NaphCare, an Alabama-based correctional facility health care provider on Friday.
The settlement comes after three deaths at the Onondaga County Justice Center in a 20-month period. Now, NaphCare must pay $875,000 to New York State and is barred from contracting to provide health services in state or local correctional facilities for the next five years.
NaphCare provided its services at the Justice Center and the Hillbrook Juvenile Detention Center between 2020 and 2022. It has since been dropped by the county.
“Every New Yorker deserves safe and competent medical care,” saidAttorney General James in a news release. “Our investigation found thatNaphCareillegally practiced medicine in New York andfailed toadequately protect individuals in custody who relied on their care. These failures put vulnerable individuals at serious risk and had devastating consequences.”
The attorney general’s office said an investigation determined that NaphCare created Proactive, a New York Stated-based corporation, to serve as the nominal medical provider for inmates at Onondaga County facilities. The AG’s office said it illegally handle decision-making and oversight from Alabama.
Employees in Alabama would issue treatment orders, prescribed medications, and directed care for Onondaga County inmates. The AG said that Naphcare was never licensed for medical practices under New York State law.
Within 20 months, three inmates at the Justice Center died after receiving inadequate treatment by NaphCare. In one case, an incarcerated pregnant woman was not given prenatal care, despite reporting that her water had broken and she was labor. The AG’s office she was not taken to the hospital until after she gave birth alone in her cell. The premature baby died.
The other deaths are a 27-year-old female inmate who died by suicide in November 2021 and an inmate who died by cardiovascular disease after receiving only intermittent treatment fry high-blood pressure. NaphCare nurses were criticized for the handling of the suicide.
James’s investigation determined that treatments for these incidents were made remotely from Alabama and not in New York State.
Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley was a vocal opponent to NaphCare during his election campaign in 2022. At the time, Shelley said NaphCare handled the situation of the inmate who had given birth her cell. His then-opponent, Esteban Gonzalez, was also a vocal critic of NaphCare.
NaphCare will need to notify the attorney general’s office before entering a contract for the next five years once the five-year ban expires.
Onondaga County dropped NaphCare at the end of 2022. Proactive did not bid to renew its contact nor was one pursued by the county.
The facilities now use PrimeCare.