Inspection finds only minor issues at Mid-State Correctional Facility clinic

A New Jersey watchdog’s inspection of the medical clinic at the Mid-State Correctional Facility found the unit mostly complied with state regulations, with only minor adjustments needed to the way workers filed paperwork and stored equipment.

In the 15-page report, released May 13 by the Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson, inspectors said they visited the Wrightstown clinic in October 2025 and February 2026 to evaluate how it provided health care services to prisoners and ensure compliance with department policies and national standards.

The clinic, run by Rutgers University Correctional Health Care, generally met inspectors’ expectations and demonstrated a “strong adherence to core requirements across all inspection criteria, with notable performance in medication distribution and administration, emergency preparedness, medical record keeping, and general clinic operations,” the report said.

Staff and supervisors were knowledgeable and professional, and the clinical areas and equipment were well-maintained, officials found.

In a Wednesday interview, corrections ombudsperson Terry Schuster said he was satisfied with both the clinic’s work and how quickly staffers rectified any issues.

“They’ve been very responsive,” he told The Jersey Vindicator. “So when we flagged some concerns and said, ‘Hey, your policy says this, and it’s not happening exactly that way,’ they have really been on it.”

“I think that’s the ideal scenario with any oversight office,” he continued. “You don’t expect perfection, but you do expect responsiveness.”

But the ombudsperson’s office did spot a few issues with the dorm-style, medium-security prison, which provides inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment and counseling for about 350 inmates.

Staff did not check the medication storage and supply closets frequently enough, occasionally failed to inspect first-aid kits, didn’t adequately maintain logs and medical record documentation, and didn’t properly sign off on inspections of controlled substances and sharp items.

The clinic’s staff fixed many of the issues between the inspectors’ October and February site visits.

In a letter to the ombudsperson’s office, Department of Corrections officials said they would either correct the remaining issues or investigate whether adjustments should be made.

Schuster, whose office plans to release similar reports for clinics at Bayside State Prison and the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, said it’s critical that inmates receive proper care.

“In the community, if a patient doesn’t like their treatment provider, they can shop around and go to someone else. In prison, you get what you get,” Schuster said.

“We get a lot of calls from family members of incarcerated [people] who have questions or concerns about medical care. They want to know what’s going on,” he continued. “And one of the things I can do is make the whole system more transparent [for families], and say, ‘Here’s what the health system looks like.’”