Main entrance to Oregon FCI Sheridan.
Office of the Inspector General/Department of Justice
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Office of the Inspector General/Department of Justice
Main entrance to Oregon FCI Sheridan.
Office of the Inspector General/Department of Justice
Delays in medical treatment at a federal prison in Oregon were so severe that an inmate faked suicide in order to treat a severely infected ingrown hair. The inmate was then hospitalized for five days to treat the infection.
The medical delays that forced the man to take drastic action in order to see a doctor were linked to severe staffing shortages at the Federal Correctional Facility in Sheridan, Oregon, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz told NPR that at Sheridan, correctional officers were working mandatory overtime that burned them out, while health care workers and educators were asked to do things they were not required to do. The job one is hired to do.
Shortages of personnel, including correctional officers and medical personnel, are one of the biggest obstacles facing the federal prison system and contribute to other challenges facing Sheridan and more than 120 similar facilities, according to the report.
“This problem has been brewing for at least 20 years. It’s not going to be solved overnight. But these inspections show us how serious the problem has become now,” Horowitz said. “When you go to a place like Sheridan Institutions, you’ll hear staff, correctional officers, health care workers, educators say they can’t do the job they’re there to do and want to do, and that’s deeply concerning.
The inspector general’s office’s visit to Sheridan was the third in a series of unannounced inspections the agency has conducted at facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons. The trip to Sheridan was the first stop on the agency’s tour of male inmate facilities.
A series of investigations in recent years by the BOP watchdog have documented significant challenges facing the federal prison system, which is responsible for the housing and care of nearly 160,000 inmates nationwide.
Horowitz said the problems exposed at Sheridan once again highlighted “the knock-on effect that staffing shortages have on all services.” Horowitz said that includes the jail’s inability to provide mental health treatment, anger management classes, job training and other services to hundreds of inmates, leaving them unprepared to leave prison fully rehabilitated.
“During our unannounced inspections of the Bureau of Prisons, we repeatedly see the challenges they face in fulfilling their mission of keeping prisons safe and preparing inmates for their return to society,” Horowitz said. “This is what we see. Another example of the serious challenges they face in completing these tasks.”
There are shortages of medical staff and equipment
FCI Sheridan consists of a medium security prison, a minimum security prison camp and a detention center housing a total of 1,523 male inmates. At the time of the inspection, Sheridan’s Correctional Services positions were 81% filled and positions within the Department of Health Services were 67% filled (18 of 27 positions filled).
Staffing issues in both units have resulted in significant problems in meeting the medical needs of inmates.
During the inspection, there were not enough correctional officers to escort inmates to medical treatment outside the prison, resulting in
101 appointments were canceled between January and November 2023.
The report found that inmates were unable to receive lab tests or X-rays because Sheridan did not have enough nurses and doctors. Inspectors found a backlog of 725 lab orders for blood draws or urine collections and 274 pending orders for X-rays, where medical conditions may go undiagnosed.
Horowitz said the example of inmates with severely infected ingrown hairs shows the time and cost implications of not addressing medical needs early.
There are also supply issues with medical equipment such as oxygen bottles — a problem not uncommon at other facilities under BOP control.
Earlier this year, the inspector general released a report on inmate deaths in custody that found BOP employees did not always respond promptly to medical emergencies or use appropriate medical equipment, such as automated external defibrillators.
Since learning of Sheridan’s findings, the BOP has made changes.
The bureau has completed 89 of 101 outside medical appointments and is working to reduce its backlog of X-ray and lab orders.
“The problem is, they’re already doing that, like taking staff from Sheridan to fill those positions,” Horowitz said. “So this is a temporary solution for Sheridan. The question is, how do you make sure Does this continue and solving the problem in Sheridan doesn’t create problems for other institutions where people come from?”
In its response to the report, BOP said it was “taking a multi-step approach to fill all funded vacancies in the agency through increased marketing, recruitment and increased incentives”.
