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Cumberland County Jail
Cumberland County, Maine
Correctional Medical Services
February 26, 2008 Portland Press Herald
Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said today that the county has begun its own
internal investigation to determine whether a man who is HIV-positive was denied
medication when he arrived at the jail on a misdemeanor charge of failing to pay
a fine. Dion said he is assessing how much time elapsed between when Charles
Wynott arrived at the end of January and when he was provided medication prior
to his release about a week later. The jail typically does not store a wide
range of expensive HIV medicines but Dion said he will assess whether there was
an unacceptably long delay in determining the medical care Wynott needed and
then obtaining medicine and providing it to Wynott. Inmates are not allowed to
bring their own medication into the jail. Wynott, who is representing himself,
filed a federal lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland against
Correctional Medical Services, which manages medical care in the jail, saying
delays in getting him his medicine may have allowed the virus in his system to
mutate, making it more resistant to medicine. Dion said CMS would not have had a
financial motive to deny the medicine. CMS does not pay for the medicines it
prescribes, but is instead paid a management fee by the county and then passes
the cost of medicine and hospitalizations on to the county. Medicine costs alone
were almost $400,000 last year.
February 26, 2008 WMTW
A Westbrook man is suing the company that provides health care services at the
Cumberland County Jail, saying it took the jail five days to give him his HIV
medication. Charlie Wynott spent about a week at the jail last month after being
arrested for driving with a suspended license. Wynott, 44, filed a lawsuit in
federal court last week against Correctional Medical Services. He said he wants
to see policies changed. He told News 8, "It's not about the money to me. It's
about taking care of the inmates in the jail. It shouldn't take five days for
them to get the meds to you." Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said the jail
tries to provide the best care possible. "I've looked at the timeline. There was
a lag,” he admitted. “The reason for the delays is it wasn't available in the
pharmacy. It's pretty costly, and we don't normally keep it on the shelf. Once
we did get it, he received it." While Dion said he would like to see the lawsuit
open up a conversation on the issue, Wynott said he just wants to make a
difference. Another man filed a similar suit against the jail’s former medical
provider about 10 years ago. David McNally settled out of court.
Maine
Correctional Center
Windham, Maine
CMS
March 13, 2008 Sun Journal
A medical technician doing contract work at the Maine Correctional Center in
Windham was arrested Sunday night after allegedly being found in possession of
cocaine. Jeanne-Marie L. Brett, 31, of 277 Fore St., Oxford, was charged with
possession of a schedule W drug, a Class D misdemeanor. She was released on $500
unsecured bail shortly after being admitted to the Oxford County Jail. According
to jail booking sheets, Brett has been employed as a medical technician for
three years. An official at the Maine Correctional Center said Brett is not a
state employee, because medical services are contracted through the privately
owned Correctional Medical Services. Norway Police Chief Robert Federico said
Brett was a passenger in a 2002 Honda Accord stopped by Officer Ron Cole on Beal
Street. "The focus of the stop was the driver, who was suspended," Federico
said. Federico said an off-duty police officer reported the car after he
recognized the driver, 39-year-old Michael A. Pulsifer of 52 Skeetfield Road in
Oxford. Pulsifer was arrested and charged with operating after suspension and
violation of bail conditions. He remained in jail Wednesday evening. According
to Federico, a search of the vehicle turned up a bag of white powder that tested
positive for cocaine. Cole also saw open cans of beer in the vehicle, two bags
containing a usable amount of marijuana, a pipe, a tin and film container with
marijuana residue, and several unidentified pills. Federico said Brett claimed
she was holding the cocaine for a friend so she wouldn't get in trouble. He said
Brett did not appear to have a criminal history. Brett declined to comment
Wednesday on the matter.
August 13, 2004
The U.S. attorney for Maine released a Westbrook doctor Thursday without
filing criminal charges, a day after federal drug agents raided his medical
office and arrested him. The arrest of
Dr. Juan Carlos Lazaro led to his dismissal as medical director of the Maine
Correctional Center in Windham, and caused his lawyer to question the actions of
federal agents who detained the 57-year-old doctor. Before learning of his
release, state corrections officials banned Lazaro from the prison, citing
security reasons. The ban led Lazaro's employer, Correctional Medical Services
Inc., to dismiss him as the prison's medical director. The firm, based in St.
Louis, Mo., holds a state contract to provide medical services at the prison.
(Portland Press Herald)
July 22, 2004
A South Paris woman who had been a counselor at the Maine Correctional Center
was arrested Tuesday, along with another former prison employee, four days after
she allegedly had sexual relations with a male inmate, prison officials said.
Bethany Bondenheim, 30, of 5 Porter St. was charged with one count of gross
sexual assault. She allegedly engaged in a sexual act with a prisoner Friday,
according to prison Superintendent Scott Burnheimer. She was arrested at her
home by Paris police, who had a warrant issued by Portland District Court, an
Oxford County Jail spokesman said. She was booked at the jail in Paris.
April Archer, 37, was a medical technician at the facility, Burnheimer said. She
allegedly engaged in sexual acts with a male prisoner on five separate occasions
in July. The trafficking charges were "concerning medications,"
Burnheimer said. In both instances, prisoners were called from their dorms
to report to the areas where the women worked, he said. The alleged sexual
conduct of both prison employees was reported by other workers, Burnheimer said.
Bondenheim and Archer were contract employees. Many specialty services at
prisons are contracted through large companies, Burnheimer said.
Bondenheim came to the prison through a company called Spectrum Behavioral
Services, Burnheimer said. He was not sure where the company is based.
Archer was contracted through Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis, he
said. (Sun Journal)
April 28, 2003
The state's prison system has a new health care provider, the same one used by
the Cumberland County Jail. Correctional Medical Services Inc. of St.
Louis was selected early this month, officials announced Friday. The state
will pay the company $11 million to provide 15 months of medical and dental care
to Maine's approximately 2,100 adult and juvenile residents at eight facilities.
With options for renewal, the contract could extend through 2008. The
contract ends a search for a new health care provider that began in December,
after an adult showed the provider at the time, Prison Health Services, was
falling short of its requirements and was losing money at the same time.
In March, the company lost a verdict in a case of an inmate death. The
family of the inmate, who hanged himself in the Lake County Jail in Waukegan,
Ill., won a $1.75 million verdict. (Press Herald)
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