Corizon Health
| Private | |
| Headquarters | Brentwood, Tennessee, United States |
| Revenue | $1.5 billion in 2015 |
| Website | www |
Corizon Health, Inc., formed by a 2011 merger of Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS) and Prison Health Services, Inc. (PHS), is the "foremost" privately held prison healthcare contractor in the United States. The company provides healthcare and pharmacy services (PharmaCorr) to approximately 98 clients in 26 U.S. states, including 518 state prisons, municipal jails, and other facilities. Serving over 332,000 inmates, Corizon Health offers dental, mental health, optometry services, and substance abuse treatment as well as general healthcare. The company is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
CMS became Corizon Health, Inc., in 2011, after essentially merging its operations with PHS Correctional Healthcare (previously known as Prison Health Services, Inc.), its largest competitor in the correctional health care industry. PHS's headquarters, in Brentwood, Tennessee, is now the headquarters for Corizon Health.
Corizon was sued for malpractice 660 times between 2011 and 2016.
Corizon Health, like its predecessors CMS and PHS, and its competitors, along with self-operated correctional health programs, has faced criticism from government officials, public-health advocates and experts for being more concerned with maintaining lucrative government contracts than effectively treating sick inmates, who are considered the most chronically and profoundly physically and mentally ill members of any society. In 2005, The New York Times published investigative articles that revealed broad complaints about Corizon's corporate predecessor, PHS, from officials, medical experts and its own employees about the companies treatment of the incarcerated people in its care. Civil rights organizations such as the ACLU claim Corizon puts profits ahead of the healthcare of inmates. David Fathi, the director of the ACLU National Prison Project, in response to the June 2010 death of inmate Xavius Scullark-Johnson at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Rush City (served by Corizon), said, "We believe that incarceration is a uniquely governmental function that should never be contracted out to private, for-profit corporations. When you combine the profit motive with limited oversight and an unpopular, politically powerless group like prisoners, it's a recipe for bad outcomes."
The Maine Department of Corrections selected CMS as a party to begin a contract with in early April 2003. However, a 2011 Report by the Maine State Legislature Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability revealed serious deficiencies in the care provided to Maine prisoners by CMS. It cited issues with administration of medication, improperly maintained medical files, delays in provision of care and insufficiently trained staff. In June 2012, the Maine Department of Corrections terminated its contract with CMS.
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