This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Chowchilla.
Since being housed here at CCWF, I have observed that the medical is a bare minimum of what the women need. If you need a specialty service, most time it is denied, not necessarily by the doctors but by their supervisors. Currently, I have been waiting to see the heart doctor since the last time I was seen by him and this was in February 2020. I am being told that because of COVID-19 this doctor’s visit is being delayed.
This is also the case for several other women here, but you would think that due to COVID-19, medical would be trying to make sure we get the care we need. Which makes this situation since COVID-19 very scary, as a sick inmate may not get the care they need.
There is no such thing as preventative medicine here. It seems to be the practice here that medical issues are only treated, or diagnostic test are only ordered when it is necessary and by then the inmate is either incapacitated or very ill.
We have a transitional care unit here at CCWF. There are some inmates that are seriously ill in this unit and then there are some inmates that are seriously ill that were “kicked” out of this unit.
