SALT LAKE CITY — A new audit says that Utah's billion dollar prison system is still failing to deliver adequate healthcare to inmates.
It's the second audit of the prisons in 17 months, and auditors found that only four of the 13 recommendations from the first audit have been implemented so far.
It found that the Gunnison prison has made healthcare improvements, but the new Salt Lake City facility still fails to provide insulin and food to diabetic inmates on a consistent basis.
As was the case in 2021, auditors found personal medical information improperly disposed of in garbage bins.
"This just speaks to the disregard for the rules and that culture of noncompliance,” said Audit Supervisor Nicole Luscher.
Utah State Representative Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) agrees, saying, “They know what the rules are, they just don’t want to comply.”
Auditors also discovered that as before, requests from inmates for healthcare were being discarded instead of being places in their files.
Utah Department of Corrections Director Brian Nielson acknowledges that he mades mistakes in the process and he "takes responsibility for that."
He also said that his agency is using new funds from the state legislature to make necessary changes.
