Illinois Nurses Association Urges State to Back Off on Nursing Privatization Move
Outsourced firm responsible for 63 patient deaths
February 23, 2016—Chicago--The union that represents nurses working in Illinois correctional
facilities called for the State to stop its effort to subcontract nursing care to private contractors.
Officials from the Illinois Nurses Association report that the Illinois Department of Corrections
issued a letter to the INA stating the department was considering outsourcing all nurse union
positions.
The Illinois Nurses Association represents 150 nurses providing health care to 50,000 patients
currently imprisoned in Illinois correctional facilities.
Citing a recently completed report of health care provided at Illinois prisons, INA urged the State
to reconsider its move to privatize. The report, conducted by Dr. Ronald Shanksy, a nationally
recognized expert on inmate care who led the study, found that substandard care contributed to
63 patient deaths analyzed.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune: “Medical care for the state's approximately
50,000 inmates is administered by Wexford Health Sources Inc., a for-profit company that was
given a 10-year, $1.36 billion contract in 2011. Since the contract was announced, the
Pittsburgh-based company has been sued dozens of times in federal court in Chicago by inmates
alleging substandard care, records show.”
“We call on the State of Illinois to return to the bargaining table and work out a fair contract with
correctional facility nurses rather than outsource taxpayer dollars to an out-of-state corporation
with a track record of irresponsibility,” said Alice J. Johnson, executive director of the INA.
About the Illinois Nurses Association
The Illinois Nurses Association is the nurses’ union, at the forefront, fighting for nurses’ rights and
empowering them to be the best advocates for their patients and their community. INA is the
nursing union in the State of Illinois, providing professional representation, improving wages and
terms and conditions of employment for nurses in bargaining units represented by the INA,
creating an environment where all RNs can participate and lead in protecting patient care by
organizing unorganized RNs that do not have the professional standards that INA represented
members have gained.
INA currently represents nurses working in the private and public sector in Illinois. For more
information about the INA, visit http://www.illinoisnurses.com or
www.facebook.com/IllinoisNurses.