WHEREAS, Philadelphia contracted with the same correctional healthcare company conglomerate for decades, continuing that relationship through a 2011 merger, a 2021 ownership change, a 2022 divisional merger, a 2023 bankruptcy, and other developments that raised questions regarding the company’s financial stability, management, and ability to provide necessary care; and
WHEREAS, Additional warning signs emerged as YesCare sustained a $307.5 million federal jury verdict and the Alabama Department of Corrections terminated its approximately $1 billion healthcare contract with the company, before Philadelphia ultimately selected CFG Health to provide correctional healthcare services beginning in Fiscal Year 2027; and
WHEREAS, In May 2026, YesCare failed to meet payroll obligations, leaving hundreds of Philadelphia correctional healthcare workers without expected paychecks for weeks and contributing to widespread staffing disruptions and employee call-outs; and
WHEREAS, These staffing disruptions jeopardized the provision of medical care to people incarcerated in Philadelphia’s jails and, on at least one overnight shift, not a single nurse reported for duty at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility; and
WHEREAS, State and local governments across the country increasingly rely on private contractors to provide correctional healthcare, and several major correctional healthcare providers have experienced serious financial distress, bankruptcy, litigation, and operational failures that have jeopardized continuity of care; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has a responsibility to ensure that its contracting and oversight practices adequately assess the financial and operational capacity of correctional healthcare providers and protect against future disruptions in essential medical care; and
WHEREAS, The breakdown of essential healthcare services raises serious questions about when the City became aware of the contractor’s financial and operational problems, how the City monitored the contractor’s performance and financial condition, what mechanisms existed to intervene before the crisis reached Philadelphia’s jails, and whether the City’s contracting and oversight procedures adequately protect incarcerated people, workers, and taxpayers from similar failures in the future; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Legislative Oversight is hereby authorized to hold hearings examining the City’s oversight of correctional healthcare contractors and the circumstances leading to disruptions in medical care in Philadelphia’s jails.
End