Correctional Healthcare Companies, Inc., replies
RESPONSE | Sheldon Frey
About the article: Dr. Stephen A. Cullinan, the Peoria physician who has been the target of numerous lawsuits alleging substandard care in jails throughout the Midwest, has retired, according to Correctional Healthcare Companies, the parent company of the Cullinan-founded firm that has contracts to care for inmates in dozens of correctional facilities. Cullinan’s retirement came in January, shortly after he agreed to a $737,500 payout to settle a lawsuit brought by the estate of Maurice Burris, who died in 2007 when a perforated ulcer went untreated in the Sangamon County jail. Illinois Times has written about Cullinan’s practice and accompanying legal woes three times, most recently on June 7, but until now had not received any response from Cullinan or his firm, which took a week to respond to written questions emailed on May 30. Below is a letter we received from the company the night of June 6, after the last article published had already gone to press.
I would like to provide a response to your recent articles and request for information concerning a few isolated cases of inmate care provided by Health Professionals, Ltd (HPL) which was acquired by Correctional Healthcare Companies, Inc. (CHC).
We are a national leader in inmate health care, providing services in 26 states to nearly 70,000 incarcerated patients and over 40,000 probationers. Since 2006, CHC has acquired and assimilated the best industry practices of four regional correctional health care companies and four community service companies with over 135 years of cumulative experience in the correctional health care and community services fields. The incarcerated population is the only population that is guaranteed health care by the U.S. Constitution, making quality inmate health care not just good practice, but a legal requirement that carries with it substantial taxpayer cost and also liability for failing to properly provide necessary services. CHC uses its expertise in the correctional health care field and its leveraged buying power to provide these required services for federal, state and local government agencies at substantial cost savings.
CHC partners with local providers to administer required medical services at correctional facilities and provides employment for over 4,000 employees, over 450 of which are in Illinois, and maintains a regional office in Peoria. Partnering with CHC allows county governments and municipalities to transfer the risk and liability associated with providing these services from local government tax dollars to CHC. Last year, CHC employees cared for the health of over 8,000 inmates in Illinois in county jails, state prisons and juvenile detention centers.
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