![\"PRISONHEALTH-12XX25-010.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/762c998\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4635x3092+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Ff5%2Fad%2F892a7005445faaa5ef47c0b7ae2b%2Fprisonhealth-12xx25-010.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Johnnie Flournoy holds his prison-issued magnifying glass at Pinckneyville Correctional Center.<\/p>\n
Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
Flournoy\u2019s story of decades of medical neglect is a common one in Illinois prisons. It\u2019s a full-blown crisis where the state\u2019s critically understaffed facilities struggle to deliver proper correctional medicine to the tens of thousands of inmates in their care.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s despite being under a consent decree, or court-enforceable settlement agreement, to improve health care since 2019. The Illinois Department of Corrections continues to fail to provide adequate medical and dental care to incarcerated people, according to reports from an independent court-appointed monitor.<\/p>\n
The monitor\u2019s ninth report, filed last month, listed several deficiencies and echoed the findings from previous reports. They included, among other issues:<\/p>\n
The department only employs the equivalent of 16 full-time physicians across its 29 correctional facilities, which house more than 30,000 people.
The department is given a budget for roughly 33 full-time physicians. Even though the monitor says staffing is \u201cdangerously low\u201d and advises IDOC to \u201cincrease budgeted physician staffing,\u201d the department claims it\u2019s in compliance with the consent decree\u2019s staffing requirements without giving evidence as to how.
High turnover also plagues IDOC. Over the last six years, 49 physicians have resigned, the monitor reported.
About 60% of nursing staff positions are vacant, and about a quarter of the facilities don\u2019t have a medical director to oversee care.
The department has not implemented a policy for analyzing staff workload and tracking filled and vacant positions. IDOC has also not supplied the monitor with clinical performance reviews for physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants. Nor have they shared disciplinary records for those professionals.
The vast majority of patient records are on paper and have not been digitized, which the monitor described as \u201cinefficient, unreliable, and inadequate.\u201d A lack of electronic medical records makes it difficult to ensure continuity of care or to track patient\u2019s medical conditions, the monitor says.<\/p>\n
And in a review of 15 deaths in custody since the last report in 2024, the monitor learned that three people died from asthma, deaths the monitor said were preventable.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are sentenced to prison. They\u2019re not sentenced to die from preventable diseases,\u201d said Alyssa Meurer, a lawyer with the Uptown People\u2019s Law Center and a member of the legal team for the class-action lawsuit that triggered the consent decree.<\/p>\n
People in American prisons also have a constitutional right to adequate medical care. And not providing it to them is considered cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment \u2014 the basis for the class-action lawsuit against IDOC. <\/p>\n
An IDOC spokesperson shared a statement saying the department is \u201ccommitted to providing safe, high-quality, and clinically appropriate healthcare to individuals in our custody and maintains a growing Office of Health Services (OHS) that oversees healthcare delivery across the Department.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the spokesperson did not answer a detailed list of questions about the current state of healthcare in Illinois\u2019 prison system.<\/p>\n
\u2018The reality is they\u2019ve done very little.\u2019<\/p>\n
IDOC entered into the consent decree following a class-action lawsuit against the department for inadequate health care.<\/p>\n
The suit began with Don Lippert. While incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center in 2010, he claimed that he was denied his twice-daily insulin shots, sending him into diabetic shock. His suit has since expanded to cover all individuals in state custody who have serious medical and dental needs.<\/p>\n
Under the consent decree, the state promised to make systemic reforms to the prison health care system. The judge overseeing the agreement assigned an independent monitor to provide updates to the court and observe whether the state is making good on its promises.<\/p>\n
The mandated reforms include: hire more qualified staff; implement an electronic medical record system; improve facilities and equipment to meet medical needs; maintain reliable and up-to-date data; and create an organizational structure that ensures inmates get the care they need.<\/p>\n
In a special report from September, the monitor wrote: \u201cAt the six-year mark in the Consent Decree, IDOC has not achieved any of these provisions, significantly hindering compliance and improvements in care.\u201d<\/p>\n
That continues to be the case, legal experts told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Samantha Reed, attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, speaks to a reporter at the Uptown People\u2019s Law Center office in Uptown, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first step to making change is admitting you have a problem, and I think that\u2019s something the state struggles with,\u201d said Samantha Reed, a lawyer with ACLU Illinois and a member of the class-action suit\u2019s legal team.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is they\u2019ve done very little,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n One of the few areas where IDOC has complied with the consent decree is improving the department\u2019s written policies. A spokesperson told the Sun-Times that the department overhauled its quality improvement directive, quality management program and quality improvement manual. The spokesperson also said the department has a \u201crobust\u201d compliance unit.<\/p>\n But improving policy is just one step, said Meurer with the Uptown People\u2019s Law Center. <\/p>\n \u201cThe monitor has repeatedly stated that IDOC does not have the adequate staff to implement the policies,\u201d she said. \u201cSo there\u2019s change on paper, but it has not actually effectuated any change within the facilities day to day with patient care.\u201d<\/p>\n IDOC\u2019s private vendors are also a part of the problem, like its longtime health care provider Wexford Health Sources, said Meurer and Reed. More than half of prison medical staff are employed by a vendor, according to the monitor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alyssa Meurer (right), an attorney with Uptown People\u2019s Law Center, and Samantha Reed, attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, stand at the Uptown People\u2019s Law Center office in Uptown, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. <\/p>\n For years, Wexford, a private, for-profit company, faced accusations of poor care, neglect and preventable deaths. In previous reports, the court monitor also found serious deficiencies in Wexford\u2019s practices and documented deaths from substandard medical care.<\/p>\n IDOC abruptly ended its contract with Wexford last summer after negotiations stalled. The state entered an emergency contract with Centurion Health, another for-profit, private health care provider for prisons.<\/p>\n A Sun-Times investigation last year<\/a> into Centurion\u2019s record found that people under the company\u2019s care say they were repeatedly ignored, denied care and misdiagnosed. In lawsuits from several state prisons, a pattern emerged: Inmates would repeatedly complain about a health issue, were ignored by correctional and medical staff members, and their condition would worsen to the point of dangerous complications or death.<\/p>\n Since Centurion took over last year, incarcerated people across the state have said their health care has not improved under the new company. Some claim that they, like Flournoy, continue to deal with lapses in care including inconsistently receiving medications and not getting care on time. <\/p>\n Centurion did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alyssa Meurer, an attorney with Uptown People\u2019s Law Center, speaks with a reporter at the Uptown People\u2019s Law Center office in Uptown, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n While Reed and Meurer readily call for companies like Wexford and Centurion to be held accountable, it\u2019s the state\u2019s constitutional duty to ensure the people locked up have adequate health care, they say.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state is confining people and preventing them from accessing health care on their own,\u201d Meurer said. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason why we\u2019re not suing Centurion or Wexford. We\u2019re suing IDOC because they\u2019re the ones responsible for making sure people get adequate medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n From blisters to an amputation<\/p>\n Though the flaws in correctional medicine do mirror larger issues with American health care, it\u2019s acutely worse for people locked up, Meurer said. They can\u2019t advocate for themselves the way a patient on the outside can. And even when they get medical appointments, they frequently miss them because there isn\u2019t a correctional officer who can take them or the prison is on lockdown.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are technically wards of the state, and we know from a lot of research that prison creates worse health outcomes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Take the case of Anthony Rodesky, who has been locked up in Illinois prisons for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This April 5, 2012, file photo shows the now-defunct Tamms Correctional Center, Illinois\u2019 only super-maximum-security prison in Tamms, Ill.<\/p>\n While housed at the now-closed \u201csupermax\u201d Tamms Correctional Center in 2011, Rodesky started developing painful blisters and sores on his right foot, according to his wife, Ranota Rodesky. As a Type II diabetic, he has long dealt with poor circulation. But the prison denied him bandages and properly fitting shoes.<\/p>\n The sores only got worse and his foot was operated on several times until he was diagnosed with a bone infection that triggered gangrene. By 2015, when he was at Pontiac Correctional Center, his leg was amputated below the knee.<\/p>\n He sued IDOC and Wexford. In July 2021, a federal jury awarded him $400,000 and he settled separately with Wexford. Despite that victory, Rodesky\u2019s care hasn\u2019t improved, his wife said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe money\u2019s not getting him the care he needs, and it\u2019s not getting any accountability,\u201d Ranota Rodesky said. \u201cJust because you settle a lawsuit doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re admitting that you were at fault. You\u2019re just doing what you can to brush this away.\u201d<\/p>\n Lately, Anthony Rodesky has been dealing with a new, dire medical issue. About seven months ago, the 55-year-old noticed a lump on his throat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt got real big fast, and he\u2019s been losing a lot of weight fast,\u201d said Ranota Rodesky, who lives in New Jersey where her husband was originally sentenced. \u201cIt started out like a quarter, and now it\u2019s like the size of a baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n Rodesky said it took six separate emergency requests for her husband to get a CT scan, which he finally got earlier this month. But he hasn\u2019t been able to get an appointment to go over the results nor has the lump been biopsied. <\/p>\n And he was just transferred from Pinckneyville to Menard Correctional Center. <\/p>\n Ranota Rodesky worries the lump on his throat is cancerous. If it is, she plans to move to Illinois.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna be their worst nightmare. They got the wrong husband,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n IDOC did not comment on Rodesky\u2019s medical history and his allegations of neglect.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not going to lose my mind\u2019<\/p>\n At Pinckneyville, Flournoy mostly keeps to himself. He carries a small magnifying glass to help him see and a digital watch that reads out the time and date \u2014 critical tools he fought to get for years.<\/p>\n He has other medical issues that aren\u2019t getting proper treatment, including a hernia, polyps on his colon and a heart arrhythmia. He walks with a cane. He wears an eye patch made out of a shoelace and a piece of cloth over his glassy left eye and drooping eyelid.<\/p>\n But his family is fighting for him. Family is everything to him.<\/p>\n If he has an issue, his little sister Patricia Brown will doggedly call the warden\u2019s office and prison medical director, not letting up until he gets help. She\u2019s his crusader. They talk everyday, whether about the movies they\u2019ve seen or the next time they\u2019ll see each other in person.<\/p>\n \u201cHe keeps telling me any chance he\u2019s got, \u2018Just hold on. I\u2019m coming home,\u2019\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Patricia Brown shows a photo of her brother Johnnie Flournoy at her home in Morgan Park, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n Flournoy collects the medical records he receives and the grievances he files and sends copies to his family home in Morgan Park on the South Side. His nephew, Jimmie Brown, keeps track of everything Flournoy sends home.<\/p>\n Holding a suitcase overflowing with documents, Jimmie Brown said, \u201cThis is everything he sends home letting us know he\u2019s not getting medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n Those documents show IDOC ignoring Flournoy\u2019s worsening vision.<\/p>\n \u201cPatient needs all glaucoma medicine for life to prevent blindness,\u201d his doctor at UI Health in Chicago urged in a 2015 report sent to IDOC and reviewed by the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n![\"PRISONHEALTH_260301_5.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/23d3740\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5995x3997+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Ff1%2Fa9%2Fdbaea6ce4939a9fcbd298cd87805%2Fprisonhealth-260301-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"PRISONHEALTH_260301_2.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/bc509cd\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6695x4463+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F47%2Ff6%2Fa899363a474282d254a2aea09e32%2Fprisonhealth-260301-2-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"PRISONHEALTH_260301_6.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/82c975d\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6574x4383+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2Ff6%2Fc60adda548fea81d70e9287936ff%2Fprisonhealth-260301-6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Illinois](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/804e4d4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3200x2125+0+0\/resize\/840x558!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F5e%2F7a%2Fe4d14c9c42d9a44964fafec4b944%2Fillinois-budget-tamms.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![\"PRISONHEALTH_260301-17.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/dadd734\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6122x4083+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F63%2F6e%2F4963df4d45fb9e7fc108b1e024ba%2Fprisonhealth-260301-17.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"PRISONHEALTH_260301-07.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/40f7915\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6122x4083+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F24%2F85%2F2fe3deca44f58faa730b7ba4874b%2Fprisonhealth-260301-07.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"PRISONHEALTH-12XX25-015.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/82a8a3c\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8192x5464+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F7a%2Fb8%2Fb4c8904b4965a901993bc5eae1a8%2Fprisonhealth-12xx25-015.jpg\")
<\/p>\n