A PEER report found a large portion of unused VitalCore contractual hours in nearly every medical category in 2025. Paybacks for staffing shortages are also still outstanding.
A report from the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER, shows that while improvements are being made on the healthcare provided to Mississippi’s inmate population, more progress is necessary.
Healthcare for prisoners under the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is currently provided by VitalCore Health Strategies. The company gained the contract in 2020 under an emergency status.
PEER reviewed the records of 50 inmates, selected at random, to use for their analysis.
According to the PEER report, areas where VitalCore is meeting the requirements include keeping a monthly log of pregnant inmates, maintenance of a fleet of four mobile medical units, and providing physical and mental health screenings in a timely manner after intake.
During the previous calendar year, MDOC had 22 pregnant women on the rolls, of which 11 gave birth while in custody. Four of the women were released prior to delivery of the child, with the remaining seven still in the gestation period.
“In addition to listing the women’s estimated due dates, the pregnancy log also included the women’s dates of intake into MDOC custody, demographic characteristics and next appointment dates,” the report noted.
A majority of incoming inmates also received the proper screenings in a timely manner. It was cited in the report that 98% of the sampled inmates received a physical examination within 14 days of entering MDOC custody, while 92% of the sample population received a mental health screening within 12 hours of arrival. The mental health assessment includes determining the risk of suicide and the person’s social history.
There were areas where PEER believes the company could improve.
According to the findings, VitalCore was not recording all of the aspects of the healthcare intake log and physical assessment during intake. Also missing were recordings of every necessary aspect of the screenings for mental health.
In a statement sent to the Magnolia Tribune, VitalCore Operations Advisor Bryan Collier said an issue with the records system is being ironed out.
“VitalCore has been making great strides to implement and refine its documentation to meet client needs. Importantly, while the report identified areas for clerical improvement, its findings also indicated that VitalCore is meeting the primary contractual requirements for the delivery of necessary healthcare services to Mississippi’s incarcerated population,” Collier added.
Collier said the company has recently put an Electronic Medical Records system in place to improve the documentation and reporting of inmate health.
“In the beginning of its work with the state, VitalCore discovered there was a nonfunctional Electronic Medical Records system in place. As a result, VitalCore implemented a new system to improve the accuracy and continuity of patient care,” Collier described in the statement. “VitalCore has been making great strides to implement and refine its documentation to meet client needs.”
Staffing shortages and inconsistencies in the records of sick call requests were also noted by PEER. In addition, annual physicals did not take place for every inmate, the report determined.
PEER did report that additional medical records were provided by VitalCore that demonstrated some improvement in that area, “…but VitalCore still did not achieve full contractural compliance in those areas.”
Medical staffing has been a problem, but VitalCore’s President Viola Riggin told a legislative committee last month that they have recently exceeded the minimum requirements.
The PEER report found that there was a large portion of unused contractual hours in nearly every medical category in 2025. Paybacks are required when the number of staffing hours does not meet certain thresholds, such as if the number of hours for doctors is below 90%. That category also includes dentists, psychologists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. All remaining medical staff should meet at least 85% of the minimum staffing hours.
VitalCore says in it’s statement to the Magnolia Tribune it has been making efforts to increase staffing.
“Amid a medical crisis in October 2020, VitalCore took over healthcare for the MDOC, inheriting only 128 staff statewide. By October 2024, VitalCore had increased staffing to 677 licensed professionals, which contributed to a significant reduction in the state’s death and suicide rates and an overall improvement of the healthcare conditions statewide,” Collier described in the statement. “In October 2024, VitalCore agreed to increase the staffing by an additional 170 full-time clinical personnel. By April 2025, VitalCore was well over the 90% required threshold and today has over 675 full-time positions.”
The PEER report found that MDOC’s analysis of VitalCore’s performance resulted in the need for the company to payback $6 million due to unfulfilled staffing hours during the first three quarters of 2025.
“Based on an analysis of MDOC’s review of VitalCore’s staffing hours, VitalCore’s medical personnel has filled an average of 75 percent of the hours required by contract over the course of the first three quarters of 2025,” the report indicated.
At the time of the report’s release, MDOC has so far received $2.1 million in paybacks for the staffing shortages from the first quarter of that year, but paybacks for subsequent quarters remain unpaid.
“From October 2024 to April 2025, any unfilled staffing allocation was returned to the state. VitalCore does not see this process as punitive, as it was a contractual agreement as we built up our workforce,” Collier responded.
The lowest rates reported were 5% of filled hours for lab services and 3% of filled hours for records and administration services.
Optometry had the highest rate of filled hours at 77%, followed by dentistry at 42%.
Issues with sick call requests centered on a difference between the number of sick calls submitted to the number of calls documented in the records. Of the 50 medical records reviewed for the report, data for nine inmates reflected less sick calls than lodged on the original spreadsheet, while four records indicated more sick calls that originally logged in the spreadsheet.
Annual physicals were also lacking, the PEER report indicated. Out of the 50 inmate records reviewed, 29 had been in MDOC custody for a year or more. Of those 29 inmates, only two received a physical assessment during the review period.
VitalCore indicated annual physicals were not conducted because it was abiding by a previous MDOC policy adopted in 2021 that mandates physical assessments be conducted between every one to four years, “based on the inmates’ age and health status.”
However, now that new rules were adopted in January of this year by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, VitalCore informed PEER that it has moved to annual examinations.
The contract between MDOC and VitalCore, however, called for annual physicals prior to the 2026 change, PEER noted.
“While VitalCore is making progress towards providing annual physical assessments, PEER notes that VitalCore should abide by the requirements outlined in its contract with MDOC inasmuch as it abides by MDOC policy and NCCHC standards,” the report described.
-- Article credit to Jeremy Pittari for the Magnolia Tribune --
