Inmates roaming Georgia medical prison, doctor says

Why give up a job that pays $191,000 a year? Because security lapses could put your life at stake.

In his resignation letter, Dr. Timothy Young cited security as one reason he was giving up his job at Augusta State Medical Prison.

Often, inmates were allowed to roam the facility without supervision or congregate in large groups, he said. In an email to the warden last February, Young recounted how earlier in the day he had gotten on an elevator with three unescorted inmates. He said he informed the inmates that they shouldn’t be on the elevator without a staff member and was told by one, “What are you going to do about it?”

Young said he tried for months to alert the warden and others to the problem without success. “It’s just one of those things that’s incremental, and, the next thing you know, you have inmates milling around unsecured or 50 standing in the hall,” he said.

Read about Dr. Young's other concerns in an exclusive story at myAJC.com.

Young left the prison Jan. 31.

Changes are underway to address some of his concerns. Read about those changes here.