Council's hearing on jail medical care is set for Wednesday

City Council's Committee on Legislative Oversight will hold its hearing on health care in Philadelphia's jails on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. in Room 400 of City Hall (meeting page). The hearing follows the collapse of the city's longtime jail medical contractor this spring and a night when no nurses reported to work at the city's largest jail.

The city pays a private contractor to provide medical care to everyone in its jails. When that contractor fails, the people in custody and the staff who care for them feel it first.

What happened

YesCare, the company that provided medical care in the jails, went into bankruptcy in May. Its workers were not paid wages due May 8 and May 15, the city said in a May 19 filing in federal bankruptcy court, according to the Philadelphia Tribune. On May 17, every registered nurse and licensed practical nurse assigned to the overnight shift at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility failed to report, the city told the court. Administrative staff covered medical triage, the filing said. The Tribune noted that the filing did not say whether a licensed clinician was on site.

The city asked the court to let it end the contract by June 1, about a month early. CFG Health, already chosen to take over July 1, started early, the Tribune reported. The Inquirer reported in May that the city dropped the contractor after more than three decades, and 6abc reported that jail health workers went weeks without pay.

At-large Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke wants records on the staffing shortage, the decision to stop using YesCare, the new CFG contract, and when officials understood the company's financial condition, the Tribune reported. "We'll be seeking a firm answer for this question," he told the paper.

What our records add

• The authorizing resolution. Resolution 260778 was introduced and adopted the same day, Sept. 24. It authorizes hearings on the city's oversight of correctional health contractors and the disruptions in jail medical care.
• Nine sponsors. O'Rourke plus Anthony Phillips, Isaiah Thomas, Jamie Gauthier, Jim Harrity, Kendra Brooks, Mike Driscoll, Quetcy Lozada and Rue Landau.
• Time to hearing. The hearing comes 34 days after adoption. By comparison, Council's student SEPTA fare hearing came more than five months after its resolution passed.
• Earlier testimony. At an April 9, 2025 budget hearing, Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick said the jails' "functional vacancy rate is around zero" and that he believed YesCare was generally meeting its contract, the Tribune reported.

What to watch

Expected questions include who covered medical care during the gaps, how the city monitored the contractor's finances, and what the CFG contract requires. The Tribune said O'Rourke had not ruled out subpoenas. The Department of Prisons did not respond to the Tribune's requests for comment.

What's next

The Oct. 28 hearing is open to the public. Earlier that day, at 10 a.m., the Committee on Licenses and Inspections meets on a separate bill. A hearing resolution does not change the law by itself. Any change to contract oversight would take a bill, a committee vote and two readings before Council.