The council’s 6-to-5 vote against a $66 million proposal by Corizon Health marked a high-profile defeat for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who had supported the contract.
Bowser spokesman Michael Czin and Corizon chief executive Woodrow A. Myers Jr. said they were disappointed in the decision. Czin said it will force the District to spend more on inmate medical services in the short term while a new bidding process is conducted.
Contract opponents cast the decision as a victory for inmate care and a rejection of a company mired in legal troubles in other states, including several high-profile wrongful-death lawsuits.
“I am happy that the council stood up for the most vulnerable residents in D.C.,” said Deborah Golden, who heads an inmate advocacy arm of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “I think Corizon has a record of shoddy and unconstitutional care across the country,” she added.
Golden said she hopes Tuesday’s decision will “start a conversation” about how best to provide for the District’s inmates, who suffer from a higher rate of illness than the wider population. “There are issues with the current contractor and contract, and that needs to be addressed,” she said.
