Thread by @vv1lder

‘It’s scary in there’: Detainees, their families, attorneys, county officials and medical staff have complained of inadequate healthcare and dire under-staffing at the Sonoma County jail. I investigated for @NorthBayNews
pressdemocrat.com/article/news/i…

Freddy Busio Gonzalez broke his ulna days before he was booked in Jan. The sheriff says he has seen a doctor over his 5 months in custody, but Freddy says treatment has consisted of a gutter splint — since limited to Motrin, ice packs and an Ace bandage. 📸: @BethSchlanker

Rocky Lozano has a painful mass growing under his ear, and it’s starting to impact his ability to swallow and hear. He fears it’s cancerous but can’t get a biopsy. He says jail staff have told him, “If you end up going to prison, you can take care of it there.”

Jail nurses say working conditions make it difficult or impossible to provide timely care. Wellpath, the medical contractor, has left vacant a 1/3 of the positions it is contracted to fill. Some nurses recounted times they were the only nurse on duty for a 600-1,000 detainees.

“Prisoners have a constitutional right to receive competent medical care: ‘deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners’ violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment," the county watchdog says. Read more: pressdemocrat.com/article/news/i…

I'm proud of this one and grateful people came forward with their stories. Read how we @NorthBayNews did it: pressdemocrat.com/article/news/h…