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Consultant vows to ‘zero in’ on Oregon prison care denials in wake of blistering report

A consultant hired by Oregon prison officials to look into a scathing outside review said his firm will operate with transparency and objectivity. An attorney specializing in representing people denied care said a pattern of outrageous decisions in recent years calls for a more in-depth review.
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PIXABAY
February 4, 2025
This article has been updated to incorporate additional reporting.

Years of legal settlements and public criticism over how Oregon cares for vulnerable sick people housed in its prisons have culminated in the termination of two top officials and the hiring of consultant Robin Timme to spearhead an overhaul — one that critics consider long overdue.

The Chicago-based firm that Timme co-leads, Falcon Inc, has consulted with state prison systems all over the country to explore reforms. The role is a familiar one, he said, but coming into a situation like Oregon’s — in the wake of firings and a scathing outside report sparked by a whistleblower — is not. 

“I would call that highly unusual,” Timme told The Lund Report.

Falcon was originally hired to help attorneys defending the state corrections department and support “crisis communications,” as The Oregonian first reported. Essentially a group of consultants scattered around the country, the firm’s work has sometimes drawn criticisms from advocates as being more about public relations and legal maneuvering than real change.

Timme, who is leading a team of six for Falcon’s work in Oregon, said those criticisms aren’t accurate.

“We take a very inclusive approach, and I think our objectivity and independence will be on full display through that,” he said. 

State correction officials announced the hiring of Timme even as the announced the ouster of Dr. Warren Roberts, the system’s longtime chief medical officer, and his superior, Joe Bugher, the department's assistant director of health services.

An 84-page investigation by longtime workplace investigator Jill Goldsmith, an attorney, cited evidence that questioned Roberts’ competence, actions and management. It found that Bugher was aware of all the concerns and had ignored them, and that both were “dishonest” in some of their representations to her.

Bugher could not be contacted for comment. Roberts did not respond to efforts to contact him for comment. The Oregonian reported both  planned to sue.

A state spokesperson said no corrections officials could comment on the situation.

Learned at OHSU

Roberts served as a neurology chief resident at Oregon Health & Science University before going out on his own. He moved to Colorado and then returned to set up his own spinal practice in 2011, and was a part of discussions around forming Legacy Health Partners in 2014.

He also was engaged in long-running litigation against Legacy Health and other doctors and spinal practices in which he said he faced retaliation for blowing the whistle on safety lapses. “There’s a double standard,” he told The Lund Report in 2015.

As that litigation wound down, the Oregon Department of Corrections hired him. In 2021, Marion Circuit Judge Claudia M. Burton said in a ruling that Burton was, at best, “evasive” if not “intentionally dishonest” when he said he still could do surgery at the time and appeared to have violated a 2020 Oregon Board of Medical Examiners corrective action agreement required Roberts undergo a one-year mentorship regarding patient care issues before resuming surgery. She also found that unacceptable medical care at the department amounted to “deliberate indifference.”

At the time, then-state Rep. Janelle Bynum defended Roberts and attacked the judge for a “disrespectful” ruling, linking it to structural racism in regulatory boards and other agencies that is “killing the economics of the Black community, is killing us.” 

Lawyers and family members who say the state has long engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional denials of care. Lawsuits have become commonplace; one man sued after having to wait three years to get treatment for a broken wrist.

Attorney Tara Herivel frequently represent people in custody who need care. Last month she won a client’s release plus $50,000 in attorney fees due to failure to treat him.

Roberts headed the committee making care decisions in the state, which frequently denied even needed care, requiring court action and wasteful litigation.

“We see it again and again and again,” Herivel said.

Many cases remain pending, and she said that given the consultant's findings of evidence of poor care,  the state now has the responsibility to identify cases where Roberts was instrumental in denied care— to offer remedies and help the victims of bad decisions.

“That is a common refrain in many places,” Timme, the state's new consultant, said of the concern over a care committee issuing inappropriate denials. “That’s an area that we’ll be zeroing in on.”

As for the perception that the state simply is unable or unwilling to devote sufficient resources to care, Timme said there are creative approaches that can help correctional health systems to work more efficiently. 

“There’s a whole array of things that we've seen across the country and internationally, honestly, that can have an effect ...but until we complete the assessment, we won't be able to say exactly what we would recommend here.”

He said the firm is not afraid to look at funding gaps. 

“As you know, if you want to know somebody's values, you look at their budget. And we know what budgets look like across the country and how does [spending] stack up per innate per month,” Timme said. “That kind of metric can be helpful to get some guidance to see how we stack up in Oregon.”

He added, “I fully expect to meet with all sorts of dissenting parties with different views, and welcome hearing all of those challenges. We know for a fact that there are going to be recommendations to improve the system. We also know that there are going to be things we find that are good practices.”

He added,  “And then we pivot to what do we want this system to be, and what are the recommendations we can make to help improve this system?”

Comments

Submitted by Latricia Tillman on Wed, 02/05/2025 - 06:25 Permalink

I know an inmate who has experienced significant pain related to having compressed discs in his back, foot problems and needing a root canal. Not only was treatment denied, he was also only given ibuprofen to manage the pain.

Legislators were informed. Hopefully, this inhumane treatment will change.