The number of missed medical appointments by people held in city jails skyrocketed in August, figures published this week by the city comptroller’s office show.
There were 16,446 missed clinic visits in August, compared to 12,190 in July — a spike of 35% — the figures show. The August total far outstripped any month since at least June 2020. By comparison, the total number of missed checkups in August 2022 was just 9,269.
“DOC must deliver the people in their care to medical care in a timely manner as a matter of life or death. Missed appointments cause worsening health outcomes for the people detained in Rikers and add to the inhumanity of extended jail time,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.
The figures, which come from the Correction Department, show over half of the missed visits — 8,866 — happened because detainees “refused” to go to their appointments.
But a class action lawsuit filed in 2021 by the Legal Aid Society claimed the refusals have more to do with staff not taking them to the visits.
In December 2022, a Bronx judge ordered the city to pay $3 million in fines for failing to get the detainees to their appointments. The city’s appeal is pending.
In September, Legal Aid sued Correctional Health Services, the city agency which oversees medical care in the jails, alleging CHS wasn’t turning over additional information about the missed visits.
The city Board of Correction has found that missed medical appointments were a factor in some of the jail deaths of the past three years, including that of Dashawn Carter, who missed 92 visits including 76 because staff didn’t escort him. Carter hung himself in May 2021.
A Correction Department spokesman did not reply to a request for comment.
Number of missed medical visits by people in NYC jails skyrocketed in August
