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Episode 1: A Mother’s Rage

Episode 1: A Mother’s Rage

by | Nov 15, 2022 | Beltrami County Jail, Justice System, KARE11, MEND Correctional Care, Minnesota Board of Medical Practice

Del Shea Perry is on a mission to get answers about her son’s death behind bars. The KARE 11 Investigates team discovers authorities buried the truth.

“Cruel & Unusual” is an original podcast from the award-winning investigative team at KARE 11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In this podcast series, KARE 11 investigates mysterious deaths swept under the rug and ignored by those in power. It exposes a deadly pattern: people left to suffer, begging for help that doesn’t come. It also reveals a state turning a blind eye to a jail doctor with a troubled past and the denial of life-saving medical and mental healthcare behind bars.

Watch KARE 11’s “Cruel & Unusual” television reporting at kare11.com/cruelandunusual.

Listen now to Episode 1: A Mother’s Rage https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-a-mothers-rage/id1653411895?i=1000586088163

Minnesota counties cut ties with inmate health care provider after its owner’s license is suspended

Minnesota counties cut ties with inmate health care provider after its owner’s license is suspended

by | Jul 13, 2022 | Beltrami County Jail, MEND Correctional Care, Minnesota Board of Medical Practice

Some county leaders cited concerns over quality of care for detainees and liability.

By  Star Tribune

A growing number of Minnesota counties are cutting ties with Sartell-based MEnD Correctional Care, citing concerns over unprovided services and potential legal liability after a state board suspended its owner’s medical license.

Anoka County is the latest to drop the correctional facility health care provider and will switch Monday to Tennessee-based Advanced Correctional Healthcare (ACH).

“Anoka County regularly reviews vendors with whom we contract and if found they’re failing to fulfill contractual obligations, we evaluate all available options,” Erik Thorson, county communications director, said in an e-mail to the Star Tribune.

In January, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice suspended Dr. Todd Leonard’s medical license effective March 1 for “a careless disregard for the health, welfare and safety of his patient.”

According to the board, the lapses in care led to the death of Hardel Sherrell, an inmate at Beltrami County jail, in 2018. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the man’s family in federal court is pending.

Leonard did not respond to a request for comment about the counties ending contracts with his company. But in a statement released by his attorney in January after his license was suspended, he said he was “profoundly saddened and disappointed” by the board’s decision.

Leonard was also sued by the family of a Sherburne County inmate who died by suicide in 2017; that case was settled in 2021 with the county and MEnD agreeing to pay $2.3 million to the man’s family.

Read the full article on The Star Tribune.

More Minnesota jails weigh dropping controversial medical provider

More Minnesota jails weigh dropping controversial medical provider

by | Jun 30, 2022 | Beltrami County Jail, Inmates, Justice System, MEND Correctional Care, Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, Uncategorized

Five months after a state board suspended the license of a doctor whose company has been under scrutiny for its role in the deaths of people held in jail, several Minnesota counties have taken steps to find a new jail medical provider.

MEnD Correctional Care contracts with dozens of counties in Minnesota and other Midwestern states to provide health care for people incarcerated in jails.

The Sartell, Minn. based company, however, has faced allegations of failing to provide adequate care to inmates, including 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell, who died in 2018 in the Beltrami County jail after his pleas for help were ignored by jail and medical staff.

About a dozen counties including Anoka, Beltrami, Clay, Crow Wing, Clearwater, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Olmsted, St. Louis and Wright have changed providers or are exploring other options.

Some cited issues with MEnD’s services are not having enough staffing. Others said they switched because they wanted to offer expanded health services to people in jail.

Sherburne County leaders this week agreed to drop MEnD for a different company.

The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice in January found that Dr. Todd Leonard, MEnD’s owner, demonstrated a willful or careless disregard for a patient’s health, welfare or safety in Sherrell’s case.

MEnD declined a request for an interview. In a statement sent by his attorney in January, Leonard said he was “profoundly saddened and disappointed” by the board’s decision.

“This death was a tragedy, but to my core I believe our care was appropriate, especially given the incredibly rare nature of this patient’s condition,” he stated.

Leonard also said the board’s decision is a judgment against him personally, not against MEnD or its employees.

According to the state medical board’s findings, MEnD hired a new corporate medical director in early 2021, and Leonard’s role in the company was limited to president and CEO.

Read the full article on MRP News website. 

 

Video shows Hardel Sherrell could walk when he originally arrived at the jail.Belatrami County Jail courtesy of KARE 11

New grand jury probe in 2018 death of Hardel Sherrell

New grand jury probe in 2018 death of Hardel Sherrell

by | Feb 23, 2022 | Grand Jury, Inmates, Justice System, Minnesota Board of Medical Practice

A federal grand jury is now investigating the 2018 death of Beltrami County inmate Hardel Sherrell, signaling possible criminal charges in a case that placed scrutiny on standards of medical and mental health care for people in custody.

Sherrell died on the floor of his cell after his pleas for medical help were refused for days. The doctor responsible for medical care in the jail has been suspended by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.

Sherrell’s mother Del Shea Perry is calling on Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute the case at the state level, too.

“We don’t need to wait for the FBI,” Perry said. “The state needs to move forward.”

There’s enough video evidence and medical records to pursue criminal charges against jail staff now, without waiting on the federal investigation, Perry said.

Sherrell, 27, walked into the Beltrami County jail on Aug. 24,  2018, without any apparent problems, surveillance camera footage shows. He died days later on Sept. 2 after his health deteriorated rapidly while he suffered the effects of Guillain-Barre, an autoimmune disease.

As he grew increasingly ill, eventually losing the ability to walk, Sherrell begged jail staffers and medical providers for help but they accused him of faking his symptoms to orchestrate an escape.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare condition but patients usually survive and live normal lives if provided timely medical treatment.

MEnD Correctional Care employees provided medical services to Sherrell and thousands of other inmates in jails across the state under the supervision of company president and physician Todd Leonard.

Read the full article here.

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