SR0098 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0098 LRB101 10662 ALS 55770 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Constitution reads, in SECTION 2. DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be denied the equal protection of the laws"; and

WHEREAS, The November 2018 Summary Report of the Second Court Appointed Expert Filed in the District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois finds that 1/3 of the deaths occurring at the Illinois Department of Corrections were preventable; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has averaged 19 healthcare professionals for every 1,000 inmates, compared to the national average of 40 healthcare professionals for every 1,000 inmates, ranking seventh lowest in the United States in terms of per capita spending per year; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds that the conditions of the healthcare provided in the Illinois Department of Corrections have not improved or have become far worse since 2015; the report reads, in part, "Overall, the health program is not significantly improved since the First Court Expert's report. Based on record reviews, we found that clinical care was extremely poor and resulted in preventable morbidity and mortality that appeared worse than that uncovered by the First Court Expert"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds staffing to be a major issue in providing necessary and adequate care to stop preventable deaths at the Illinois Department of Corrections and states, "The IDOC does not have a staffing plan that is sufficient to implement IDOC policies and procedures. The staffing plan does not incorporate a staff relief factor. Custody staffing has also not been analyzed relative to health care delivery to determine if there are sufficient custody staff to deliver adequate medical care. Staff vacancy rates are very high"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds lack of hiring of properly-licensed physicians to provide the necessary care needed and links it to preventable deaths impacting monitoring of sanitation, management of chronic disease, infection control, necessity of specialty care, and periodic examination; in this case, "The vendor, fails to hire properly credentialed and privileged physicians. This appears to be a major factor in preventable morbidity and mortality, and significantly increases risk of harm to patients with the IDOC...It is our opinion that the quality of physicians in the IDOC is the single most important variable in preventable morbidity and mortality, which is substantial"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds inadequate accommodation for the elderly and the disabled and states, "Housing of the elderly and disabled is inadequate"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the dental care below adequate, noting, "Dental care continues to be below accepted professional standards and is not minimally adequate...There is no dentist on staff"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the lack of authority given to the Illinois Department of Corrections Agency Medical Director is a critical issue that correlates with the overall monitoring of quality of care; it was noted that "The Agency Medical Director has limited responsibility with respect to the health program. He is responsible for formulation of statewide health care policy and chronic care guidelines. Through subordinates, he monitors and reviews medical services, but he has insufficient physician staff to perform adequate monitoring, especially for physician care. He has no authority to manage operations of the health program. He has no responsibility for the budget except in a consultative role. He participates in scoring prospective vendors of the medical contract and in reviewing staffing recommendations in the contract. But this is mostly an advisory and consultative role. According to his job description and interview, he does not function as the authority in establishing budgets, staffing levels, or equipment purchases. Although he appears to be the final clinical medical decision maker, one has to infer this responsibility because it is nowhere stated in his job description"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the impact of vendors hired by the Illinois Department of Corrections self-monitoring their services is an impediment of improvement of healthcare provided at IDOC facilities; the report states, "The Wexford Regional Medical Directors are responsible for ensuring that direct patient care is consistent with community standards and with contract requirements. They supervise the facility Medical Directors and are responsible for peer reviews of Medical Directors, and must ensure and/or conduct death reviews. Since there is inadequate oversight by the IDOC over physicians, the supervision of Wexford Regional Medical Directors is the only oversight of physicians. Wexford is thereby evaluating its own performance and does this extremely poorly"; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the same conditions in clinical space as the First Summary Report of 2015; the report notes, "In the final report, the First Court Expert noted that clinical space, sanitation, and equipment were problematic at virtually every facility...Overall, we found problems with nurse sick call rooms, infirmary spaces, and examination rooms in all facilities we visited. The dialysis unit at SCC is inadequate and needs renovation. These problems detracted from the ability to provide care"; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois Department of Corrections to put in place processes and measures to implement the recommendations of the November 2018 Summary Report of the Second Court Appointed Expert filed in the District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois and to provide this General Assembly with a written report of its initiatives and impact by the end of the 2019 Legislative Session.