Investigation Reveals Problems with Detainee Health Care Provider
Last week, The Frontier published the latest story about beleaguered prison health-care provider Turn Key, which was founded by Oklahoma House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols.
The investigation, done in collaboration with the Marshall Project, found that at least 50 people who were under Turn Key’s care died during the past decade.
Oklahoma jails have come under scrutiny for their inattention to detainee health problems, particularly those related to mental health, as Oklahoma Watch reported last year. Shannon Hanchett’s case garnered the most notoriety in Oklahoma, but Turn Key faces lawsuits in at least three states that involve similar allegations.
The Frontier and The Marshall Project found that Turn Key employees didn’t send people to the hospital when they were in crisis and that employees were mainly nursing assistants trained to perform basic tasks such as taking vital signs. Doctors, the investigation found, did much of their consulting remotely.
The problem extends well beyond Cleveland County.
An Oklahoma Watch investigation revealed in December that more than half of the people who died while in the custody of an Oklahoma jail over the course of a year had mental and/or physical health problems that often went untreated.
In May, the New York Times published a similar story about mental health and U.S. prisons. That story also found that a lack of responsiveness to mental health problems was a factor in multiple deaths.
More worth reading:
No Outside Counsel for Sheriff
Cleveland County commissioners are rejecting Sheriff Chris Amason’s request to hire an attorney to represent his office amid an audit by the state. [The Oklahoman]
More Absentee Ballots Being Rejected
County election boards have become more inclined to disqualify mail-in ballots. For the June 18 primaries, for instance, Tulsa County disallowed 8.4% of mail-in ballots, compared to 1.3% in 2020. [Tulsa World]
Minimum Wage Campaign Raised $1.34 Million
The campaign to put a minimum wage increase to a statewide vote received $1.34 million in contributions through the first six months of the year, according to a report filed last week with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. [Tulsa World]
On this day in 1901, Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
