Medical & Mental Health in Utah (UDC)

Who Provides Care

Since July 1, 2023, healthcare in Utah’s prisons is delivered by the Division of Correctional Health Services (CHS), part of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services — a separate agency from the corrections department. CHS lists medical, dental, vision, mental and behavioral health care, pharmacy, physical therapy, X-ray, chronic care, OB/GYN, palliative care, infectious disease services, telemedicine, and medication-assisted treatment among its services, with infirmaries at both prisons.

This split matters practically: medical questions and medical grievances route to CHS, not to prison administration.

Getting Care

The incarcerated person starts care by submitting a Health Care Request form — paper in all housing units, electronic on tablets in some — into a sick-call box that CHS staff check daily. A registered nurse evaluates each request and schedules the person with a medical, mental health, or dental provider. In an emergency, the person notifies any staff member. Everyone entering the system is screened on arrival for urgent medical, mental health, and dental needs.

What Care Costs

The published co-pay structure, as posted by UDC and DHHS (June 2026):

• $5 for each health care request for medical, dental, or optical services
• No charge for mental health visits
• $2 per prescription dispensed each month
• Off-site or specialty care: 10 percent of cost, capped at $2,000 per fiscal year
• Medical equipment: 50 percent of cost for purchased items like braces; glasses at 50 percent of cost, one pair every two years

Both agencies publish the same safety net: no medical or mental health visit, procedure, or supplies will be denied because the person cannot pay. Co-pays come out of the person’s account (and can become debts that future deposits help repay — see Sending Money). Medicaid covers only inpatient hospitalization during incarceration.

How Families Raise Medical Concerns

Utah publishes a dedicated family medical line: 801-522-7293.

Two constraints shape what that call can accomplish. First, staff can only discuss a person’s medical information if the person has signed a Medical Information Release form — it is offered at intake, and later the person can request it through their caseworker. A family expecting to be involved in medical care should ask the person to confirm that release is on file. Second, whether family is notified of a hospitalization is decided case by case; notification is not automatic.

Mental Health

CHS provides crisis intervention (the person tells any staff member, and a crisis worker is contacted), inpatient mental health units with medication management and individual and group therapy, and outpatient services including psychiatric referral. Mental health visits carry no co-pay.

Grievances

Medical complaints route directly to CHS: the grievance form goes in an envelope addressed to Correctional Health Services into the housing unit’s mail drop. The handbook is explicit that writing letters to administrators or outside organizations does not substitute for the grievance process — and the process has deadlines:

1. Level One: filed within 14 calendar days of learning of the issue; response due in 30 days
2. Level Two: filed within 7 days of the Level One response; response due in 30 days
3. Level Three: filed within 7 days of the Level Two response; response due in 30 days — denial here exhausts administrative remedies, which matters for any later court filing

Disputed co-pay charges use a separate co-pay reconciliation form sent to the CHS Co-pay Administrator. Some matters are not grievable through this process, including parole board decisions, disciplinary decisions, and classification decisions.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Know Your Rights.