BusinessWeek Article May 18, 2005 Prison Health Services' Hard Time

Prison Health Services' Hard Time
CEO Michael Catalano reacts to a series of critical news stories that have hit the stock of the for-profit inmate medical-services providerIt's hard to think of a more challenging business model than providing health-care services to prison inmates. Medical services are in high demand from jail populations, while health-care costs are increasing, government oversight remains heavy, and there's always the risk of a major human and public relations disaster resulting from deficient patient care. Michael Catalano, the chief executive of America Service Group (ASGR ), which operates Prison Health Services, the nation's largest nongovernmental provider of health care to inmates, knows all these rocky shoals. Most recently, the company found itself the focus of a damning investigative report by The New York Times. The three-part series, which began in late February, documented horrific cases of inmate suicide, shoddy care to children in custody, and prisoners dying after being denied treatment. It laid the blame squarely at the feet of Prison Health Services. Catalano says the story was unfair. MORE...http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2005/nf20050518_2061_db008.htm