Pros
There are very few pros that I am able to recall in my time spent with Corizon. I enjoyed working with the deputies of the Clackamas County Jail as they are a great group of people. I also enjoyed the medical team employed by Corizon outside of the HSA and corporate management.
Cons
There are so many cons that it is hard to know where to even begin. Employee retention at Corizon is abysmal. In my 16 months with Corizon, there was an 87% turnover rate in the behavioral health department alone. There was supposed to be two people in my position; yet, for upwards of 50% of my tenure, I was alone with 500+ inmates. That level of staffing is egregious and a contractual violation. It also resulted in workweeks that averaged 50-60 hours with no opportunity for overtime due to being salaried. Corizon proclaims that they are focused on providing "clinically-focused, patient-centered, and evidence-based" patient care. That is rhetoric that completely contradicts their approach and philosophy to providing even the most basic of healthcare services. It was the norm for our clinic to be grossly short-staffed. Corizon is by no means providing industry standard staffing levels. We would also regularly run out of medications and basic medical supplies. Corizon is also excellent at justifying why particular medications are not prescribed. Supposed to be on an antipsychotic? Sorry, that's non-formulary. Oh, you need that expensive HIV medication? Sorry, that's non-formulary and it's been more than x number of days since you last took it. Your doctor prescribes you sleep-aid medication, ADD/ADHD, and anti-anxiety medication? We treat that behaviorally here. In reading countless other reviews, there exists a consistent theme that everyone grieves about the management of Corizon, but why? Put simply, management at Corizon is based upon a hostile work environment and bullying approach. Articulate your concerns or clinical opinion and face retaliation. Monthly meetings are an opportunity to be brow-beaten by an individual who doesn't even know how to work the floor. Management regularly denies PTO requests, well, except their own. Management is quick to write you up even without foundation or merit. Oh, and the point system, yeah, welcome back to middle school now pull out your punch card. The culture of Corizon is also disgracefully poor. Who would want to work in an environment with constant turnover, retaliatory management, unmanageable workloads, minimal resources, low pay, and poor benefits? The answer, new graduates. Thus, if there is a pro, it is that Corizon makes a great stepping stone for new graduates and serves as an excellent reminder for everything that you don't want in a future employer. Ultimately, it's incredibly sad that I elected to leave the jail and vacate my position. I loved my job and I deeply miss it but I refuse to work for a company that cares so little for its employees. Corizon represents everything that is wrong with privatized healthcare and corporate America. Corizon is precisely why people unionize.
