Op-ed: Beyond the bottom line – protecting patients and professionals in corrections

Deana Johnson, President of SHQA
AL.com, 06/11/2026

The recent collapse of YesCare, one of the nation’s largest private correctional healthcare providers, exposed deeply troubling failures within that company and sent unexpected shockwaves through the industry. As leading healthcare providers in the correctional setting, we were concerned – both for the patients and for the professionals who have dedicated their lives to care for them.

Organizations entrusted with public healthcare responsibilities must operate with accountability and ethical leadership. The correctional healthcare industry cannot tolerate conduct that places employees, patients, providers, and government partners at risk.

Following a record-breaking $307.5 million malpractice verdict against YesCare that triggered a financial “free fall,” the company missed payrolls and suddenly terminated its contracts across nine states where it provided care for approximately 20,000 patients. We have witnessed a seeming disregard for the fundamental responsibilities that come with the provision of public healthcare.

Reports indicate that YesCare’s dedicated employees went unpaid while continuing to report to work, and also lost substantial accrued time off – time that was earned as a result of their long and dedicated hours of work.

As leaders in the correctional healthcare industry, we feel it is important to speak out about this matter. We are committed to holding our industry to a standard where continuous quality care matters. This is why we have formed the Secure Healthcare Quality Alliance (SHQA). SHQA will serve as a forum for those in the industry who embrace the values of ethical leadership and quality care, who accept the organization’s standards, recognize excellence, and speak up for our patients, employees, and partners.

SHQA stands with the professionals who continue to care for patients despite the uncertainty of their own compensation and benefits. The failure of YesCare should not impact the nurses, physicians, and staff who worked tirelessly under extraordinary conditions and continued to ensure patients received necessary and life-sustaining care.

As part of this commitment to correctional healthcare providers, SHQA has filed an amicus brief in the bankruptcy court in Florida to argue in favor of prompt pay for YesCare’s front-line healthcare workers and the protection of these vital caregivers’ rights. We will continue to advocate for the full examination of the circumstances surrounding these recent events and for any potential future industry issues that don’t align with the same commitment to protect correctional care providers and patients.

Additionally, we are also actively working toward solutions. Across the country, our members and others have stepped in in the wake of YesCare’s failure, to help stabilize affected healthcare operations and preserve the continuity of care for over 20,000 patients. SHQA’s members have worked with the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and several sites across California and Florida to transition thousands of patients to a new provider in record time, serving as a testament to the commitment of this workforce, and demonstrating that operational quality care and financial integrity can go hand-in-hand.

We are grateful that many Alabama-based employees have remained dedicated to their patients under new leadership. Operational partners, including Birmingham-based NaphCare, executed one of the fastest transitions of this size in the country to ensure there was no disruption in care for inmates.

To further support the frontline workforce, new leadership assumed approximately $3.5 million in accrued employee paid time off so that staff would not lose the benefits they had earned through their service.

Additionally, more than $4 million was invested in retention and transition payments to offset the uncertainty and payroll disruptions that resulted from YesCare’s failure. And this is only one example of the dozens of transitions that occurred across the country to ensure continuity of care.

We invite the public and our government partners to join us in demanding this important standard of accountability. By supporting policies that prioritize ethical leadership, we can ensure that care provided in correctional facilities remains constitutionally appropriate, and provides continuous stability and healing to this medically complex population. Together, we will ensure that the failures of one do not define the dedicated service of many.