{"id":73109,"date":"2026-02-24T17:30:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/?p=73109"},"modified":"2026-02-24T17:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:50:00","slug":"mold-medical-failures-alleged-at-michigan-womens-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/mold-medical-failures-alleged-at-michigan-womens-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Mold, medical failures alleged at Michigan women\u2019s prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Michigan lawmakers scrutinize women\u2019s prison conditions after inmate died of treatable infection<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Critics linked mold, ventilation issues at the prison to inmate health problems<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Past lawsuits underscore longstanding safety concerns at the facility<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Months after a woman in state custody died from a treatable infection, Michigan lawmakers from both parties raised concerns over what they described as systemic failures at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a House Oversight Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/house.mi.gov\/VideoPlayer?data=https:\/\/youtube.com\/live\/65cPOQVaAHY?feature=share\">hearing on Tuesday morning<\/a>, state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, said she saw black spots in the seams of the shower room when she visited the women\u2019s correctional facility on Feb. 12.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked what those spots were, the warden told her it was black paint on clear grout \u2014 not mold \u2014 and offered to eat it in front of her to prove it was not toxic, Pohutsky told colleagues.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She alleged inmates at the Ypsilanti facility suffered from health issues directly stemming from unsafe living conditions, pointing to a recent report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/corrections\/-\/media\/Project\/Websites\/corrections\/Files\/Legislative-Reports\/2024\/FY2025-Five-Year-Physical-Assessment-Plan-Report.pdf?rev=93966c47beba409bb161009a9326bf03&amp;hash=0C3D1E0088D4FDEBF6E73F231AE44DA9\">Michigan Department of Corrections<\/a> documenting multiple air circulation devices in need of replacement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MDOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/michigan-gives-parolees-ids-in-bid-to-keep-them-from-returning-to-prison\/\"><strong>Michigan gives parolees IDs in bid to keep them from returning to prison<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/prison-officer-assaults-up-in-michigan-union-asks-state-for-change\/\"><strong>Prison officer assaults up in Michigan. Union asks state for change<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/michigan-prisoners-make-12000-license-plates-a-day-and-1-31-per-hour\/\"><strong>Michigan prisoners make 12,000 license plates a day \u2014 and $1.31 per hour<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Laresha Thornton, a former teacher\u2019s aide at the women\u2019s prison, said in testimony that she had been diagnosed with a chronic inflammatory disease linked to conditions at the facility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t realize (that) the mold had affected me,\u201d she told lawmakers. \u201cI was hospitalized and told that my intestines were swollen because of the mold.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thornton said she had complained about the mold but was sent to another prison facility in Jackson. She only returned to Huron Valley Correctional Facility because there was a vacancy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During her testimony, Pohutsky noted that an inmate named Krystal Clark had repeatedly raised concerns about mold at the facility beginning in 2016. In July 2023, she tested positive for multiple species of black mold.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hearing came just months after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voranfuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/Jennifer-Jean-Wallace?obId=46415639\">54-year-old Jennifer Jean Wallace<\/a> died of sepsis from a Haemophilus infection while in MDOC custody. It was later revealed that Wallace received the wrong medication and her medical care was delayed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her family suspects that it was due to dental issues that went untreated despite several requests.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Huron Valley Correctional Facility is the state&#8217;s only prison for women. As of January, about 1,800 women were held in the facility. A group of inmates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michiganpublic.org\/criminal-justice-legal-system\/2025-08-14\/inmates-at-michigans-only-womens-prison-sue-state-over-black-mold-exposure\">sued the state last year<\/a> over mold claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRegardless of whether these individuals are incarcerated appropriately or not, they\u2019re human beings,\u201d House Oversight Committee Chair Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay, said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve taken responsibility as the state \u2026 for these individuals and their well-being while they\u2019re in our custody.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years, lawsuits and state reports have documented alleged sexual abuse, unsafe living conditions, invasive strip searches and failures in medical care at the correctional facility. In May, a group of 20 women filed a<a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/2025\/05\/07\/lawsuit-seeking-500-million-says-guards-videotaped-strip-searches-at-michigan-womens-prison\/\"> $500 million lawsuit<\/a> against the state, alleging they were subject to strip searches that were recorded.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, MDOC agreed to a settlement of $860,000 over a wrongful death lawsuit after Janika Nicole Edmond died by suicide at the correctional facility in 2015. The lawsuit alleged that Edmond asked for a suicide prevention vest but officers ignored her and bet on whether Edmond would end her life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.mi.gov\/HFA\/PDF\/Briefings\/Corrections_BudgetBriefing_fy25-26.pdf\">Michigan Department of Corrections budget is roughly $2.1 billion<\/a>, which represents about 3% of the state\u2019s budget for the 2026 fiscal year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About $1.7 billion of that is allocated for prisoner operations, including prisoner custody, housing, food and behavioral programs. Roughly $77.7 million is for academic and vocational programs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawmakers are scrutinizing conditions at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility following the death of an inmate from a treatable infection and testimony alleging mold, poor ventilation and unsafe living conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":73110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-24T22:30:38Z","apple_news_api_id":"823cc563-da8d-4ec3-83f8-5dde47784a09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-24T22:50:05Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AgjzFY9qNTsOD-F3eR3hKCQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[2445],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2471],"class_list":["post-73109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-michigan-government","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mold, medical failures alleged at Michigan women\u2019s prison - Bridge Michigan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/mold-medical-failures-alleged-at-michigan-womens-prison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mold, medical failures alleged at Michigan women\u2019s prison - Bridge Michigan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawmakers are scrutinizing conditions at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility following the death of an inmate from a treatable infection and testimony alleging mold, poor ventilation and unsafe living conditions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/mold-medical-failures-alleged-at-michigan-womens-prison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bridge Michigan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BridgeMichigan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T22:30:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T22:50:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Houseoversightcommittee2_24_26-scaled.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1472\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Janelle D. 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Laurie Pohutsky and other Michigan lawmakers cited documented maintenance failures and past lawsuits during a Tuesday morning hearing regarding conditions at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility. 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