Community Coalition asks Alameda County to dump Wellpath Healthcare in Santa Rita Jail
Stop Deaths and Harm – A working group with advocates from the American Friends Service Committee, (AFSC) Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails, (ICJJ), and Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill, (FASMI) demands that Alameda County plan now to replace Wellpath by 2027 at the end of their County contract. Our compilation of evaluations by an international auditing and consulting firm Forvis Mazars, commissioned by the County and the Sheriff’s Office, shows an almost total failure rate by Wellpath of 70% to 100% of “important” and “essential” compliance indicators for medical care in the jail. We will present our findings at the Board of Supervisors Public Protection Committee on March 27 at 10 am at the Board Chambers, 1221 Oak St., 5th floor, Oakland. Webinar: https://zoom.us/j/83246519903
- Faced with over 1,500 lawsuits nationwide, in November last year, Wellpath filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Texas court, putting those claims behind other creditors, and protecting their bottom line.
- Mazar’s audits show that Wellpath has been continuously in material violation of the terms of the contract with the County for many months.
- For the last two months of audits available, March and April of 2024, Wellpath had a 100% failure rate in all categories, consistently failing to meet the needs of its patients.
- In 2024-25 Alameda County funds of over $49M are budgeted for Wellpath medical services at Santa Rita Jail, an annual cost of over $30,000 per person just for medical care, not including the cost of behavioral health or custodial care.
- The Bay Area counties of Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Marin provide medical care services in their county jails without contracting it out.“Suicide watch compliance was only 50% in 2023. One hopes for mercy for the other 50% for whom Wellpath did not adequately document the risks of suicide,” said John Lindsay-Poland, AFSC.”We implore the Board of Supervisors to start now exploring alternatives to the current unacceptable healthcare in the jail,” said Richard Speiglman, ICJJ Chair. “We must provide decent levels of healthcare in the jail.”###
Press Contact: Bob Britton, ICJJ (510) 303-4296; bb26779@gmail.com