Full Text of SR0098 101st General Assembly
SR0098 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Constitution reads, in SECTION 2. DUE | 3 | | PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION, "No person shall be deprived of | 4 | | life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be | 5 | | denied the equal protection of the laws"; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The November 2018 Summary Report of the Second | 7 | | Court Appointed Expert Filed in the District Court for the | 8 | | Northern District Court of Illinois finds that 1/3 of the | 9 | | deaths occurring at the Illinois Department of Corrections were | 10 | | preventable; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has averaged 19 healthcare professionals | 12 | | for every 1,000 inmates, compared to the national average of 40 | 13 | | healthcare professionals for every 1,000 inmates, ranking | 14 | | seventh lowest in the United States in terms of per capita | 15 | | spending per year; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds that the conditions | 17 | | of the healthcare provided in the Illinois Department of | 18 | | Corrections have not improved or have become far worse since | 19 | | 2015; the report reads, in part, "Overall, the health program | 20 | | is not significantly improved since the First Court Expert's | 21 | | report. Based on record reviews, we found that clinical care | 22 | | was extremely poor and resulted in preventable morbidity and |
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| 1 | | mortality that appeared worse than that uncovered by the First | 2 | | Court Expert"; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds staffing to be a | 4 | | major issue in providing necessary and adequate care to stop | 5 | | preventable deaths at the Illinois Department of Corrections | 6 | | and states, "The IDOC does not have a staffing plan that is | 7 | | sufficient to implement IDOC policies and procedures. The | 8 | | staffing plan does not incorporate a staff relief factor. | 9 | | Custody staffing has also not been analyzed relative to health | 10 | | care delivery to determine if there are sufficient custody | 11 | | staff to deliver adequate medical care. Staff vacancy rates are | 12 | | very high"; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds lack of hiring of | 14 | | properly-licensed physicians to provide the necessary care | 15 | | needed and links it to preventable deaths impacting monitoring | 16 | | of sanitation, management of chronic disease, infection | 17 | | control, necessity of specialty care, and periodic | 18 | | examination; in this case, "The vendor, fails to hire properly | 19 | | credentialed and privileged physicians. This appears to be a | 20 | | major factor in preventable morbidity and mortality, and | 21 | | significantly increases risk of harm to patients with the | 22 | | IDOC...It is our opinion that the quality of physicians in the | 23 | | IDOC is the single most important variable in preventable | 24 | | morbidity and mortality, which is substantial"; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds inadequate | 2 | | accommodation for the elderly and the disabled and states, | 3 | | "Housing of the elderly and disabled is inadequate"; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the dental care | 5 | | below adequate, noting, "Dental care continues to be below | 6 | | accepted professional standards and is not minimally | 7 | | adequate...There is no dentist on staff"; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the lack of | 9 | | authority given to the Illinois Department of Corrections | 10 | | Agency Medical Director is a critical issue that correlates | 11 | | with the overall monitoring of quality of care; it was noted | 12 | | that "The Agency Medical Director has limited responsibility | 13 | | with respect to the health program. He is responsible for | 14 | | formulation of statewide health care policy and chronic care | 15 | | guidelines. Through subordinates, he monitors and reviews | 16 | | medical services, but he has insufficient physician staff to | 17 | | perform adequate monitoring, especially for physician care. He | 18 | | has no authority to manage operations of the health program. He | 19 | | has no responsibility for the budget except in a consultative | 20 | | role. He participates in scoring prospective vendors of the | 21 | | medical contract and in reviewing staffing recommendations in | 22 | | the contract. But this is mostly an advisory and consultative | 23 | | role. According to his job description and interview, he does |
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| 1 | | not function as the authority in establishing budgets, staffing | 2 | | levels, or equipment purchases. Although he appears to be the | 3 | | final clinical medical decision maker, one has to infer this | 4 | | responsibility because it is nowhere stated in his job | 5 | | description"; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the impact of | 7 | | vendors hired by the Illinois Department of Corrections | 8 | | self-monitoring their services is an impediment of improvement | 9 | | of healthcare provided at IDOC facilities; the report states, | 10 | | "The Wexford Regional Medical Directors are responsible for | 11 | | ensuring that direct patient care is consistent with community | 12 | | standards and with contract requirements. They supervise the | 13 | | facility Medical Directors and are responsible for peer reviews | 14 | | of Medical Directors, and must ensure and/or conduct death | 15 | | reviews. Since there is inadequate oversight by the IDOC over | 16 | | physicians, the supervision of Wexford Regional Medical | 17 | | Directors is the only oversight of physicians. Wexford is | 18 | | thereby evaluating its own performance and does this extremely | 19 | | poorly"; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The 2018 Summary Report finds the same conditions | 21 | | in clinical space as the First Summary Report of 2015; the | 22 | | report notes, "In the final report, the First Court Expert | 23 | | noted that clinical space, sanitation, and equipment were | 24 | | problematic at virtually every facility...Overall, we found |
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| 1 | | problems with nurse sick call rooms, infirmary spaces, and | 2 | | examination rooms in all facilities we visited. The dialysis | 3 | | unit at SCC is inadequate and needs renovation. These problems | 4 | | detracted from the ability to provide care"; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois | 7 | | Department of Corrections to put in place processes and | 8 | | measures to implement the recommendations of the November 2018 | 9 | | Summary Report of the Second Court Appointed Expert filed in | 10 | | the District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois | 11 | | and to provide this General Assembly with a written report of | 12 | | its initiatives and impact by the end of the 2019 Legislative | 13 | | Session.
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