Inspection of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Federal Correctional Institution Sheridan

By The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General

  Our unannounced inspection identified several serious safety and security issues at FCI Sheridan affecting both employees and inmates. Most significantly, substantial shortages of Correctional Officers and healthcare workers―which is an issue at many BOP institutions—have created widespread and troubling operational challenges at FCI Sheridan that substantially impact the health, welfare, and safety of employees and inmates. For example, healthcare staffing challenges seriously impact FCI Sheridan’s ability to provide adequate healthcare to inmates. In particular, this affects the performance of routine, daily functions such as drawing blood for laboratory tests, triaging patient requests for care, and ensuring that medical equipment and supplies are ready to be used for routine care and in the event of a medical emergency. Especially alarming was our finding that the institution had a backlog of 725 laboratory orders for blood draws or urine collection and 274 pending x-ray orders. These backlogs cause medical conditions to go undiagnosed and leave providers unable to appropriately treat patients. Specifically, an FCI Sheridan physician told us that the backlog of laboratory orders for blood draws or urine collection has compromised his ability to treat patients and has prevented him from monitoring the effects of medication on his patients’ kidney and liver functions. These limitations are concerning for the treatment of any medical condition, but especially concerning for the treatment of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hepatitis C, that regularly affect inmates. We note that FCI Sheridan took action to decrease these backlogs after our on-site inspection and after we expressed concern about these issues to the BOP; as of May 2024, the backlog of laboratory orders stood at 44 and the backlog of pending x-ray orders stood at 84. Delayed medical treatment can lead to more serious medical conditions for an inmate, as well as substantially increased costs for the institution. For example, we found that, just prior to our inspection, an inmate feigned a suicide attempt in order to receive medical attention for an untreated ingrown hair that had become infected. When finally examined after the feigned suicide attempt, he required hospitalization for 5 days to treat the infection. Separately, while not directly

Washington, DC: OIG, 2024. 39p.