<\/p>\n
A room in the prison infirmary at\u00a0MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield in March 2026<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n
The prison infirmary at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield in March 2026<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n
The view of the entrance to the prison infirmary from the waiting room at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in March 2026.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n
A prison infirmary at XXXX in March 2026.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n
Thirty-four months. That\u2019s how long\u00a0records show a Connecticut prisoner diagnosed with colon cancer<\/a> has been waiting for a\u00a0colonoscopy ordered by his doctor.<\/p>\n Twenty-nine months. That\u2019s how long another prisoner has waited for a surgery to extract his tooth.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Six months. That’s how long a prisoner whose mammogram showed dense breast tissue and needed an ultrasound to rule out breast cancer, has waited.<\/p>\n These are not isolated delays.<\/p>\n They are part of a wide breakdown in Connecticut\u2019s prison health care system, where incarcerated people are left waiting extended periods of time for specialist care already deemed medically necessary.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On Jan. 20, the state Department of Correction had over 2,600 speciality care appointments yet to be scheduled, according to records obtained by CT Insider. The backlog includes referrals for radiologists, oral surgeons, gastroenterologists and orthopedists. Of those, 44 had been waiting for scheduling for over two years, 190 more than a year, and 397 over six months.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make CT Insider a preferred source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The list includes patients with cancer, rectal bleeding, cracked teeth and nerve disorders.<\/p>\n The delays come after a doctor has already determined the care is necessary, and DOC\u2019s medical administrators have signed off to provide the specialty care, records show.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Officials at the DOC in recent weeks\u00a0declined CT Insider’s requests to being interviewed about these waitlists or prison health care. The governor’s office is now working to set up an interview with prison officials.<\/p>\n In February, CT Insider\u00a0obtained the\u00a0waitlist nearly one year after requesting it, and on the eve of a hearing before the state’s Freedom of Information Commission, which has the authority to compel the DOC to release it. CT Insider is still waiting for other records requested nearly one year ago\u00a0related to prison health care and those who have died while incarcerated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Each appointment on the waitlist is assigned a priority level for how soon the patient must be seen \u2014 ranging from immediate to 13 months \u2014 based on what the DOC says aligns with community standards of care for best practice. But a CT Insider investigation found hundreds of cases exceeding those timelines.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s concerning \u2014 34 months \u2014 I continue to be shocked,\u201d said Amy Zipf, the state\u2019s assistant correction ombudsman and a nurse with a\u00a0PhD in health systems. “To wait over a year for any appointment seems unreasonable at best. If I’ve waited for over a year, is someone even paying attention?\u201d<\/p>\n The DOC has long been warned before about the backlog.<\/p>\n A private contractor hired to help<\/a> manage specialty care \u2014 paid roughly $100,000 a month<\/a> last year to do so \u2014 told officials the system was failing. Internal communications obtained through an open records request show the company repeatedly pushed for access to fix it.<\/p>\n The department declined to engage.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “The DOC still isn’t letting us help them. Numbers are trending in the wrong direction,” Trent Turek, a vice president at NaphCare, wrote<\/a> the state’s prison ombudsman last June as the waitlist approached 5,900 appointments. “We were contracted to do a job and help, but they do not want to let us do it.”<\/p>\n It’s unclear if things are getting better or worse. In response to CT Insider’s request for all the waitlist data, the assistant director of legal affairs said there is no way to pull the historical data, despite state law<\/a> requiring computer-stored public records to be retrievable.<\/p>\n DeVaughn Ward, the state’s prison ombudsman, said there is confusion among many incarcerated people around their health care. Many believe they are on waitlists, and when he checks they are not.<\/p>\n \u201cInhumane,\u201d is how he describes the situation.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n CT Prison Ombudsman\u00a0DeVaughn Ward stands outside his team’s Hartford office in March 2026<\/p>\n Jacqueline Rabe Thomas \/ Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n Ward\u2019s office has received two waitlists from the DOC, pulled on Feb. 27 and March 13. In-between when those two wait lists were pulled, several prisoners were added and some removed. For those removed, it’s unclear what happened \u2014 if they have been scheduled and seen or any died while\u00a0waiting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven’t found anyone \u2014 yet \u2014 that has died as a result of waiting for the care, but we have identified individuals whose condition have significantly worsened as a result of waiting for care,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n Hours after that interview, one of the people on the waitlist was dead.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Jeffrey Yeaw, 59, had been referred for a cardiology appointment on Jan. 5. Six day later, before any appointment was scheduled, he was rushed to the hospital during a cardiac emergency.<\/p>\n His name was still on the\u00a0waitlist, the ombudsman reported in an investigation<\/a> released Tuesday.<\/p>\n The DOC reported Yeaw\u2019s death appeared to be from natural causes. Yeaw\u00a0was incarcerated at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield while serving a lengthy sentence for a 2012 gunfight with police.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ward said Yeaw\u2019s delayed access to medical care is not an isolated situation, and \u201creflects broader system issues.\u201d<\/p>\n CT Insider communicated through the prison’s messaging system with eight\u00a0incarcerated people still waiting for care. Their cases show how delays move from a single line item on a 144-page waitlist to pain.<\/p>\n Michelle Troconis waits for specialty care<\/p>\n Michelle Troconis, perhaps the state\u2019s highest-profile female inmate, has been waiting months for specialty care to address a medical issue that is leading to pain, bleeding and possibly could cause an infection.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Her intrauterine device should have been replaced years ago, she and her father Carlos\u00a0Troconis said through the prison\u2019s\u00a0messaging system and through his text messages.<\/p>\n She also needs eyewear that corrects her vision to eliminate headaches while she\u2019s working transcribing books into Braille for children, a job she holds at York Correctional Institution, the state\u2019s only prison for women.<\/p>\n Troconis was sentenced to 14\u00bd years on charges of conspiracy to commit murder<\/a>, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the 2019 death of Jennifer Dulos<\/a> after an eight-week trial.\u00a0She maintains her innocence and has a pending appeal and habeas motion seeking to have her conviction overturned on the grounds her first attorney was ineffective.<\/p>\n Her IUD should have been replaced in June 2024, but she was incarcerated by that point and hasn\u2019t been scheduled to see a gynecologist despite repeated requests, she and her father said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The result has been cramping and bleeding and the risk of a potential infection caused by a device that was meant to be replaced after five years in use, they both said.<\/p>\n It took a year for\u00a0Troconis to be seen by a dentist and she\u2019s still waiting for an eye appointment, she said.<\/p>\n She\u2019s filed several requests for both treatments, but there have been no appointments made to deal with her medical concerns, Troconis said.<\/p>\n York CI inmates are required to fill out a form to request health care services. The forms are then placed by the women in a medical box in each housing unit, Troconis said. According to DOC directives, the agency has 15 days to deal with the request.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But that\u2019s rarely what happens, she added. Often, female inmates are sending several requests for the same health concern because there is no acknowledgement of the form and no action on being seen for specialty care, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a huge problem because we never know if they in fact are reading our forms and sometimes if there is an emergency, our life is in jeopardy,\u201d\u00a0Troconis said. “I am stuck in the DOC system with no solution to my problem.”<\/p>\n Ward said many incarcerated people aren’t sure if they have been put on a\u00a0waitlist. With Troconis’\u00a0permission, Ward looked to see if she actually was on a wait list, and found she is not.<\/p>\n Delayed care leaves Shanta Perry in agony<\/p>\n It started in May 2025, a sharp knot on the left side of his stomach that dropped Shanta Perry into a fetal position on his prison bed. He was 22 and living in Middletown when he killed someone over a woman, an act the judge called \u201cactions of a hot-headed young man<\/a>.\u201d Now, 25 years into a 30-year sentence, he remains imprisoned at Osborne Correctional Institution in Somers, struggling to get medical care.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe pain was so severe,\u201d he wrote a reporter through the DOC’s messaging system.<\/p>\n Shanta Perry at Osborn Correctional Institution in March 2026<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n A correctional officer called medical, he says, and a nurse told him to submit a request to see a doctor. He did and was placed on a waiting list.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n June became July before someone examined him.<\/p>\n August brought new pain \u2014 a knot near his belly button that he said \u201cpops like a spring\u201d when pressed. Nurses referred him to a doctor, who ordered in September an abdominal ultrasound to view the hernia and prioritized it as Level 3, meaning it should happen within three weeks, Ward confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n But no scan \u2014 or appointment \u2014 happened.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n By December, the pain was worse. Maybe it\u2019s not a hernia, he says the doctor tells him now \u2014 maybe it\u2019s his liver. Another ultrasound was ordered to view his liver and prioritized to happen within three weeks, the ombudsman confirmed.<\/p>\n By mid-March, the pain had spread \u2014 ribs, stomach, sharp and frequent.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels as if a sharp needle is going through (my ribs),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ten months have passed since the pain began.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cMy mind (has) been all over the place not knowing what is wrong with (me). \u2026 I\u2019m mentally drained,\u201d he says. \u201cD.O.C. medical needs to be exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n For Rayshaun Bugg, 8 months waiting for surgery<\/p>\n Rayshaun Bugg\u2019s knee often locks into a sideways \u201cV,\u201d frozen after months without treatment.<\/p>\n Bugg is just over halfway through a 25-year sentence for serving as the getaway driver at age 20 in a robbery that left a teenager dead.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Behind the prison walls at Osborne Correctional Institution, a summer pickup basketball game set off the injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI felt a pop in my knee and yelled immediately as I fell down in pain,\u201d Bugg wrote through the DOC\u2019s messaging system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rayshawn Bugg at Osborn Correctional Institution in March 2026<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n Unable to stand, he was taken to get medical care in a wheelchair, where he said his injury was quickly dismissed and was sent back to his unit with ibuprofen.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The pain worsened. Nights became a cycle of fractured sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard for me to sleep at night\u2026only being able to have 3 hours of sleep because my leg was hurting,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n He filed repeated requests for care as his knee stiffened and eventually locked, records show. Weeks passed before he was given a crutch, he says. Months passed before he saw a specialist.<\/p>\n When\u00a0Ward got involved, he discovered Bugg would require intensive physical therapy prior to surgical intervention due to deterioration caused by delayed treatment.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But Bugg was not added to the physical therapy wait list until March 9 \u2014 eight months after the initial injury, Ward confirmed.<\/p>\n Uncertainty lingers alongside the pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still in pain as we speak, I have a noticeable limp to my walk,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI’ve been in excruciating pain, limping around, complaining, and I just want to be able to finally walk and run around again.\u201d<\/p>\n Terry Johnson says he nearly died before cancer diagnosis<\/p>\n Terry Johnson knew something was wrong in 2023 when he began losing weight and his appetite while experiencing such intense pain on the left side of his ribs and lower back that he at times couldn\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But health care staff at Cheshire Correctional Institution didn\u2019t seem to take his symptoms seriously, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI continued to put in for sick call and kept getting told that there was \u2018nothing wrong\u2019 with me, and that it was all \u2018in your (my) head,\u201d Johnson said through the prison\u2019s messaging system. \u201cThis went on for several weeks, as my symptoms continued to get worse. Then one night, I sneezed and it felt like I had been hit in the chest with a pickaxe, and it dropped me to my knees. I went to medial again, and they told me I \u2018pulled a muscle\u2019 and was given a tube of athlete\u2019s foot cream.\u201d<\/p>\n Terry Johnson at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in March 2026<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until three months after he initially complained when he showed medical staff his blood-soaked undergarments that they agreed to send him to the hospital, the 56-year-old said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Medical testing at the University of Connecticut Health Center, he says, revealed that he was near death from multiple myeloma \u2014 a rare blood cancer that killed his sister Greta in 2021. The ombudsman reports confirms he was diagnosed with cancer and broken ribs.<\/p>\n \u201cHer passing weighed heavily on me, because she and I were always close, and kept in touch with each other on a regular basis,\u201d he said. \u201cShe would also come visit me as often as she could. It was really hard for her emotionally to come and see me in here. Her passing has given me strength to never miss my appointments, and to continue the battle, for as long as I possibly can. As hard as it has been to do all this on my own, I’ll never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson and his brother Duane are serving life sentences in the 1991 murder of Connecticut State Police Trooper Russell Bagsaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n Johnson said he repeatedly pointed out that something was wrong three years ago, but his concerns were written off as constipation or other mild health issues.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n After his cancer diagnosis, he was placed in the infirmary at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield for a year, he said. He has undergone a stem cell transplant and continues to receive chemotherapy at UConn to keep the cancer at bay.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to the lack of medical attention and proper medical treatment while housed at Cheshire Correctional, it almost cost me my life,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I had received proper medical treatment when I informed the medical staff at Cheshire Correctional, a lot of what I had to go through, wouldn’t have had to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n For Mathew Pugh, struggling for air while waiting for care<\/p>\n Matthew Pugh has struggled to breathe for the last 17 months. Nasal polyps, he says, leave him gasping, coughing up phlegm, and doing pushups just to open his airways. When he sneezes, Pugh says no air can pass through his nose. Once, after trying to blow his nose, he says he fainted in his cell at Cheshire.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Mathew Pugh at Cheshire Correctional Institution in March 2026<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Prison Ombudsman DeVaughn Ward<\/p>\n He has been seen by prison medical staff, but Pugh says the appointments take months to happen and have done little to improve his condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is like neglect! I’ve had this problem since October 2004 and still haven’t had anything done to relieve it,\u201d he wrote through the prison messaging system.<\/p>\n According to the prison ombudsman, Pugh has been awaiting a pulmonary function test and consultation since Jan. 22. Both were designated Priority 4, meaning he should be seen within two months. As of March 13, he had already been waiting seven weeks without an appointment scheduled.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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