Health, sanitation violations found in state prisons, memo says

A memo sharing the results of regular health and sanitation inspections of Nevada’s state prisons revealed several “critical” violations in multiple facilities.

In advance of next week’s meeting of the State Board of Prison Commissioners, the Nevada Department of Corrections shared a memo detailing the results of these inspections by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health from the office division’s chief medical officer, Ihsan Azzam.

Six state prisons had critical dietary and sanitary violations, and the two prisons inspected for medical and dental services both had deficiencies.

These inspections must be conducted regularly under state law, but only two prisons per year have to be inspected for medical and dental compliance.

Sanitary violations

High temperature dishwashers were found in disrepair at three prisons: High Desert State Prison, Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center and Northern Nevada Correctional Center, according to the memo.

At High Desert State Prison, some sinks were found without sanitizer. Cockroaches — both alive and dead — were found in food storage areas.

Chemical containers were found without labels to prevent misuse at Southern Desert Correctional Center.

According to the memo, Northern Nevada Correctional Center was “operating under unsafe conditions which involved the culinary wastewater plumbing system,” with floods of wastewater found in a crawl space under the culinary from a broken pipe that had been left in disrepair.

Also at the facility, signs of rodents were found in the warehouse though not in the culinary or bakery. The memo said that the prison is making efforts to “eliminate the ongoing infestation.”

Medical deficiencies

This year, Northern Nevada Correctional Center and Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center were up for inspection.

Only one deficiency — damage to the vinyl material of an examination table and dental chair — was found at the woman’s prison. This type of damage presents an infection control risk, according to the memo.

Six deficiencies were found at Northern Nevada Correctional Center, including an exposed electrical hazard, obstructed fire sprinklers and damaged vinyl.

Inspectors found that the facility had not been following its policy on the sterilization of medical and dental instruments, the memo said. Several drugs and biological supplies were also found to be outdated or expired.

The Nevada Department of Corrections did not respond to requests for comment on the violations and deficiencies.

The State Board of Prison Commissioners is scheduled to meet in Carson City on Dec. 19, with a remote viewing site available in Las Vegas at the Nevada State Business Center.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky.