Arizona prison director Ryan Thornell answers our questions about problems with the prison system, including healthcare and extreme heat.
PHOENIX — Arizona prisons Director Ryan Thornell has faced no shortage of challenges in his first year on the job, from extreme heat and a years-long health care lawsuit to cultural shifts within the corrections system. Still, lawmakers, advocates and even Gov. Katie Hobbs call him the right person for the job.
“I wasn't surprised compared to the outdoor temperature,” Thornell said, noting July’s record heatwave in Arizona was unprecedented. “I think what I was more surprised by were the number of cells that were impacted as extremely as they were.” “It's in process right now,” he said. “If you drive by, you can see ventilation going up on the external walls. You can see ventilation going into individual cells, which is far ahead of the timeline that we had last year. And so I'm hopeful. I know we're going to have air conditioning in cells this summer that didn't have it last year.” In July 2023, records revealed incarcerated women and at least one staff member at Perryville were hospitalized for heat-related symptoms.
In one case, records say 23-year-old Joshua Fox hung himself in his cell right before Christmas, less than two days after he arrived at the prison in Phoenix. Records from the medical examiner show another inmate was inside the cell, but was sleeping when it happened. “I think that the department is responsible for that,” Thornell said. “And there's a whole host of different ways that we're responsible. And we conduct a very thorough investigation in every one of those.”
“One of our significant pushes right now is to de-stigmatize that and to really give staff and the population the tools to really work through that,” he said. “The second thing is improving how we engage with the population. Since I came in last January, corrections historically has been about punishment, control, and really this lockdown sort of attitude. That doesn't work. It doesn't work to achieve the outcomes we want.
“The progress is there,” he said. “There's things that are happening. So to say that it's a failure or progress is lacking, I think, is outdated information.” “As we look ahead over the next year or two, the number of health care staff that the state needs is going up significantly and we don't have the people to fill all of those needs,” he said.
A spokesperson for NaphCare sent a statement from CEO Brad McClane Thursday afternoon that read, in part, “NaphCare inherited a difficult situation and has been working tirelessly with new ADCRR leadership to find solutions.”
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