CT Mirror35%
Healthcare access dominates complaints from CT’s incarcerated 12%
By Katy Golvala23%
8/3/2026, 12:45:56 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Hasty Generalization, with Anecdotal as the most egregious example at 18% saturation with 207 hits. Analysis detected 1,206 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,149 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 21.9% and a BS Rank of 12% (25,950 of 29,351 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 88.40% of the article peer group.
In late 2024, Alexis Rodriguez was complaining of stomach issues while incarcerated at Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield.
He wasn’t able to use the bathroom regularly.
“Everytime I was seen because I kept writing and complaining, they kept saying I was constipated and [kept] giving me [a] laxative,” Rodriguez submitted in written testimony to the state’s Correction Advisory Committee.
“I kept telling them that something is really wrong.”
On February 4, 2025, Rodriguez’s pain got so bad that it caught the attention of a nurse.
“I literally cried to him and told him that something is really wrong, that I’m not using the bathroom and I’m cramping and the pains are excruciating and now I’m throwing up,” Rodriguez wrote.
Rodriguez went to the emergency room, where he underwent emergency surgery.
When he woke up, he had staples from the bottom of his chest to below his belly button and a colostomy bag, he wrote.
He was eventually diagnosed with cancer.
Rodriguez was one of more than 100 people who submitted testimony about the living conditions inside Connecticut prisons to the Correction Advisory Committee as part of its semi-annual public hearing on Thursday.
Advocates, along with loved ones of incarcerated people and many who were formerly incarcerated, provided in-person testimony during the hearing.
Several people read testimony from people currently incarcerated who could not attend in person.
The hearing was also meant to serve as a forum to hear from the state Correction Ombuds about the work the office has completed over the last six months.
Correction Ombuds DeVaughn Ward discussed findings from his office’s most recent semi-annual report , published earlier this month.
Between October 2025 and June 30, 2026, roughly a third of the 1,974 complaints received by the office pertained to health services.
The office receives and reviews complaints about prison conditions from incarcerated individuals themselves, as well as from family members, attorneys, legislators and others.
In March 2026, the ombuds published a report cataloguing “systemic deficiencies” in access to medical and mental healthcare faced by those in DOC custody, particularly for outpatient specialty services.
Rodriguez experienced the type of delays in care outlined in the report.
In early 2024 — months before he was diagnosed with cancer — he went to UConn Health because of a kidney stone.
A CT scan revealed the kidney stone but also another “incidental finding,” he said in his testimony.
The provider recommended Rodriguez see a gastrointestinal specialist and get a colonoscopy, but that never happened.
Around the same time as the ombuds’ report, a CT Insider story reported similar delays, including one account of a Connecticut prisoner diagnosed with colon cancer who waited nearly three years for a colonoscopy and another who waited more than two years for a tooth extraction.
In May, the Department of Correction announced a slate of reforms focused on improving the quality of healthcare for people who are incarcerated, including a new director of inmate medical services, a team to oversee the implementation of reforms and investments in technology advancements.
DOC spokesperson Andrius Banevicius said that interim Commissioner Sharonda Carlos and the new executive director of patient care services, Craig Burns, are leading the department in expanding “efforts to provide vital healthcare services to the individuals under its supervision.”
The department is addressing the backlog of appointments, using technology to reduce paper-based scheduling delays, and evaluating and launching temporary cardiology and gastroenterology clinics, which represent the specialties with the most acute shortages, Banevicius said.
Testimony submitted by incarcerated individuals also described issues beyond direct medical care that can damage mental and physical health.
Several people across different facilities said staffing shortages often result in canceled recreation time.
“Oftentimes, the weight room will be cancelled because the [correctional officers] who are scheduled to work there are used for ambulance trips.
This happens a lot,” wrote Chris Galvin, who is incarcerated at Carl Robinson.
“This is due to insufficient staff and we lose out on our recreation time.”
Enrique Colon at Hartford Correctional Center highlighted a similar issue.
“We’re supposed to have outside rec six days a week, which we are lucky to receive twice a week due to ‘short staff’,” Colon wrote .
Juan Perez, who is currently incarcerated at MacDougall Correctional Institution in Suffield, provided a similar account.
“Lockdowns frequently reduce the amount of time inmates spend outside their cells.
Outdoor recreation is often canceled because recreation staff are reassigned to other duties,” wrote Perez.
“I understand incarceration involves consequences.
However, access to fresh air and recreation also affects physical and mental health.”
Many people also talked about food quality issues, including lacking nutrition and small portions.
Galvin said the portions at Carl Robinson “are often small” and that people “aren’t being given the proper amount of time to eat.”
Perez said that food quality is also an issue at MacDougall, adding that he “doesn’t expect luxury,” but does “expect food that is consistently safe, nutritious, and fit for human consumption.”
Ward said there’s been some improvement to the food since his office highlighted issues in its 2025 Conditions of Confinement report , released in January.
“From what I hear from folks that are housed at DOC, they’ve told me that the food portions have increased.
On our tours, it appears that the food quality is getting better at some facilities at some times.
I can’t say that across the board.
We still have some concerns,” Ward said.
DOC spokesperson Banevicius did not respond to any of the specific issues raised in testimony from people who are incarcerated in Connecticut prisons.
Legislative response
During Connecticut’s 2026 legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 5567 — legislation they called “ a start ” to addressing the healthcare-related problems within DOC.
Part of the law includes the formation of a Correction Medical and Health Commission, which would be tasked with creating a 10-year plan for improving medical services in the state’s correctional facilities.
The legislation also eliminates medical copays for those in DOC custody and requires DOC to create an online system that allows people to make requests for medical care and access their health records electronically.
The budget for fiscal year 2027 also includes $2 million to support 10 additional Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and 10 additional licensed clinical social workers for DOC, a spokesperson for Gov.
Ned Lamont’s budget office confirmed in June.
DOC spokesperson Banevicius said the budget also provides $1 million to fund a permanent interagency team to address access to care.
During a press conference with reporters after the close of the recent legislative session, Lamont said there was more to do to improve the care incarcerated people receive.
“I’m proud of the fact that we have half as many people incarcerated as we had 15 years ago.
Much lower recidivism rate,” Lamont said “Now we’ve got to work on healthcare in our prisons.”
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