Wellpath lawsuits in California: suing a jail's private medical company after a death or injury

If someone you love was hurt or died in a California jail, we are sorry. When families get the first records, they often see a company name they do not recognize, such as Wellpath, CFMG or Corizon, on the medical forms. Many people then search for a Wellpath lawsuit in California, or a NaphCare or CFMG lawsuit, to find out what that name means.

This guide explains what jail health care contractors are, what public records show about which California counties have used them, what Wellpath's 2024 bankruptcy means for families, how these companies are sued alongside the county, reported results, and the deadlines. It is general information, not legal advice. Claims against any company described here are allegations unless a court or agency has made a finding.

Who provides medical care in California jails?

Each county decides how to provide health care in its jails. Some use their own health departments. Others contract with private companies. A few examples from public records:

• Los Angeles County uses a county department, Correctional Health Services, which is part of the Department of Health Services and was named as a defendant in the Attorney General's September 2025 lawsuit over jail conditions.
• Contra Costa County uses Detention Health, a division of the county's health department, according to a 2026 civil grand jury report.
• Alameda County has a five-year, $250 million contract with Wellpath for Santa Rita Jail that expires in 2027, according to a March 2026 news report.

When a county uses a contractor, the nurses, doctors and mental health staff in the jail may be company employees, not county employees. That changes who the defendants are and which deadlines apply.

Wellpath and CFMG: one company, a long California history

According to Wellpath's own history page, California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG) was founded in the early 1980s, starting with the jail in Monterey. CFMG later became Correctional Medical Group Companies, which joined with Correct Care Solutions to form Wellpath. In 2023, KTVU reported that Wellpath, formerly called CFMG, provided health care in 34 of California's 56 county jail systems. In March 2026, Wellpath announced a new California operating division.

Public records tie Wellpath or CFMG to these California jails at the times shown. Contracts change, so the provider today may be different.

Alameda County (Santa Rita Jail)	Wellpath; contract through 2027 (news report, March 2026). Wellpath was the medical provider when Maurice Monk died in 2021 (Local News Matters, June 2025).
Santa Barbara County (Northern Branch Jail)	Wellpath (Wellpath news post, July 2026)
Butte County Jail	Wellpath (Wellpath news post, July 2026)
Shasta County Jail	Wellpath was the jail's health care company in 2018 (KTVU, August 2023)
Imperial County jail	CFMG, also known as Wellpath, was the medical contractor in 2019 (Calexico Chronicle, October 2024)

Corizon, NaphCare and other contractors

Corizon. Corizon joined Alameda County in a 2015 settlement over a 2010 death at Santa Rita Jail, described below. If Corizon or its successor appears in older records, a lawyer can check the company's current status.

NaphCare. NaphCare is a jail health care company based in Birmingham, Alabama, with contracts in other states. As of October 2026, we could not confirm from public records a current NaphCare contract with a California county jail. If NaphCare appears in your loved one's records, a lawyer can confirm its role.

Others. Some counties have used smaller contractors. In San Bernardino County, for example, Prison Legal News reported that jail medical contractor Liberty Healthcare paid part of a 2021 settlement over a 2017 death.

What does the Wellpath bankruptcy mean for families?

Wellpath filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 24-90533, Wellpath Holdings, Inc.), according to filings in that case. Here is what we could verify:

• Lawsuits were paused. The bankruptcy judge paused lawsuits involving Wellpath, and dozens of cases were put on hold, NPR and Connecticut Public reported in December 2024.
• A creditor settlement and exit. In April 2025, Wellpath agreed to pay $15.5 million to junior creditors, a group that included people harmed by its care, and the settlement cleared the path for the company to leave bankruptcy, with H.I.G. Capital keeping a majority stake, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
• Some claims have since resolved. In June 2025, Wellpath agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with Maurice Monk's children, Local News Matters reported.

What we could not verify from primary sources: the exact plan confirmation date, the claim-filing deadlines in the bankruptcy, and how far the plan's releases reach (for example, whether they cover individual Wellpath employees). These details matter. Bankruptcy can affect how and where a claim is paid, and for how much.

In general terms, the bankruptcy mostly concerns claims that arose before the November 2024 filing. It does not, by itself, protect the county, which remains responsible for care in its own jail. If your loved one's injury or death happened before the filing, a lawyer should check the bankruptcy docket and the confirmed plan before deciding how to proceed. If it happened after Wellpath left bankruptcy, the claim generally proceeds against the company in the normal way.

Suing the contractor and the county together

Most cases name several defendants:

• The county and sheriff. The county has its own duty to provide care in its jail. It can be liable under federal civil-rights law for its own policies, customs or training failures, and under some state-law theories. See our guide to deliberate indifference and jail medical neglect.
• The company. Federal courts have generally treated private jail medical companies as acting for the government, so they can face federal civil-rights claims based on their own policies or customs, such as short staffing or using nurses without the right license for certain tasks. They can also face state-law negligence and wrongful death claims.
• Individual staff. Nurses, doctors and deputies can be named individually.

Counties and contractors often blame each other. Their contracts may also say who pays for what, so in discovery we ask for the contract, staffing requirements and any audits.

What families have recovered from jail medical contractors

These are reported results in California cases brought by other firms. They are allegations unless a court found otherwise.

In the Imperial County case of Jose Banda Pichardo, the county settled for $5.5 million in 2024, and the family's malpractice claim against CFMG went to trial and ended in a mistrial, the Calexico Chronicle reported in October 2024. For more results, see jail death settlements and verdicts in California and our guide to suicide in jail. Every case is different. Past results, including those listed here, do not predict the outcome of any other case.

Deadlines when a private medical company is involved

• The county: six months. Private companies are not public entities, so the government claim rule does not apply to them. But the county is almost always a defendant too, and a written government claim generally must be presented to it within six months of the death or injury (Government Code § 911.2). See the six-month government claim deadline.
• The company: its own rules. Wrongful death and injury claims are generally subject to a two-year limit (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). But claims for professional negligence against a health care provider may fall under California's medical malpractice rules: generally three years from the injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first (§ 340.5), with a 90-day notice of intent to sue before filing (§ 364). The malpractice damages cap in Civil Code § 3333.2 may also apply to those claims.
• Federal civil-rights claims: generally two years, with no government claim requirement.
• Bankruptcy deadlines can be separate and shorter. Ask a lawyer to check.
• What the estate can recover depends on the claim. See survival damages after a jail death.

What to do now

1. Look through any papers you received for the name of a medical company, and keep them.
2. Request the coroner or medical examiner's report.
3. Do not sign anything from the county, the jail or a medical company, including releases, before talking to a lawyer.
4. Write down names, dates and what your loved one said about their care.
5. Call a lawyer before the six-month mark. We send preservation letters to the county and the contractor for medical records, sick-call requests, staffing records and video.

How LaCour handles these cases

LaCour Trial Lawyers handles police misconduct and wrongful death in custody cases statewide, led by founding partner and lead trial counsel Jonathan P. LaCour. We name every responsible party, public or private. We have Spanish-speaking lawyers and staff, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery. See deaths in California jails and prisons, or request a free, confidential review.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about California and federal law and about public records as of its date. It is not legal advice, and reading it or contacting us does not create an attorney–client relationship. Allegations in lawsuits are claims, not findings. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.