State doesn’t do enough to protect prisoners’ health

Published 1:30 am Monday, February 15, 2021

I so appreciate the recent commentary about the Monroe prisoner who has suffered at the hands of the Department of Corrections (“For a prisoner, protecting health is an infraction,” The Herald, Jan. 31).

Unfortunately, this incident does not surprise me in any way. I don’t care what this guy had to do to protect himself, it is his right as a human being. The Department of Corrections allows no gray area for their institutionalized bureaucracy, even during a national crisis.

My husband is incarcerated at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center and his health has suffered from it. The lack of nutritional food and being locked down for more than a year has wreaked havoc on him both physically and mentally. Although he is in a medium security unit, his time outdoors is in a 10-foot by 10-foot cage. He gets little exercise and suffers from vitamin deficiencies. Any medical care he needs takes an emotional strain on me because I must be relentless with following up with the Department of Corrections to be sure they are following through, and I can tell you right now, that many things get missed.

Anyway, thank you again for bringing this matter to light. I know the public cares little about inmates, until it is one of their loved ones who must live in this broken system.

Natalie Penfold

East Wenatchee