{"id":2417,"date":"2026-07-08T19:06:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2417"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:06:47","slug":"colorado-county-healthcare-provider-to-pay-10-2-million-after-man-slowly-died-in-jail-despite-pleas-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2417","title":{"rendered":"Colorado county, healthcare provider to pay $10.2 million after man slowly died in jail despite pleas for help"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Huerfano County and a Pueblo-based healthcare provider will pay $10.2 million to the estate of a man who died in the southern Colorado county\u2019s jail three years ago after officers broke his ribs and failed to give him needed medical treatment despite his pleas for help over eight days.<\/p>\n

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Michael Burch, 69, died inside the Huerfano County Detention Center on April 4, 2023, from complications of blunt force trauma to his chest, the coroner found. Burch suffered six badly broken ribs, a collapsed lung, internal bleeding and bruised intestines after a jail detention officer tackled him into a metal bench on March 28, 2023.<\/p>\n

Huefano County and the sheriff\u2019s office will pay Burch\u2019s estate $9.2 million, while Health Care Partners Foundation Inc. \u2014 the healthcare provider for the jail at the time \u2014 will pay an additional $1 million, according to a settlement agreement.<\/p>\n

Huerfano County Sheriff Bruce Newman did not return a request for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Rita Torres, CEO of Health Care Partners Foundation, said the nonprofit follows national standards for correctional care and placed blame for Burch\u2019s death on the sheriff\u2019s office, because, she said, officers determined Burch was too dangerous to receive medical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to evaluate someone who comes into booking within 24 hours, but we are not allowed to do so if the sheriff\u2019s department thinks there is a danger to any of our staff, so we were not able to do the formal assessments because of the sheriff\u2019s department not allowing us to see him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Burch, a former correctional officer who moved to Colorado for retirement, was in the middle of a mental health crisis when he was jailed. He told deputies the devil was talking to him and sometimes ranted incoherently. After tackling Burch over his use of a pencil inside the jail cell, the officers largely ignored his requests for medical treatment with a general attitude that the man was deranged.<\/p>\n

Immediately after Burch was tackled and handcuffed on the floor of his cell, surveillance footage in the jail showed Captain Lea Vigil turn to a medical provider and make a circular motion with her finger by her head as she said, \u201cBatshit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The officers maintained that approach for the next week, even as a large black bruise spread across Burch\u2019s torso. Burch told an officer he\u2019d nearly died and repeatedly asked for help.<\/p>\n

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Five days after his injuries, Burch did have a telehealth visit with a Health Care Partners Foundation nurse practitioner who was out of state. The nurse practitioner did not identify his rib injuries and instead focused the visit on Burch\u2019s mental health, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Torres said Wednesday that the nurse practitioner could not fully examine Burch because he was \u201cchained up,\u201d and that Burch told her he was not in any pain that day. She said the medical providers were unaware of his broken ribs, even though Burch had complained about his ribs for days.<\/p>\n

Burch\u2019s attorneys alleged in the lawsuit that the jail\u2019s medical providers should have taken more thorough action \u2014 including, at the least, a visual examination \u2014 to identify Burch\u2019s injuries.<\/p>\n

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Burch received no treatment for his rib injuries, attorneys for his estate alleged. He collapsed and died in his cell two days later.<\/p>\n

Omeed Azmoudeh, an attorney for Burch\u2019s family, said in a news conference Wednesday that Burch\u2019s death was a \u201chorrific abuse of power\u201d and called for the sheriff to resign.<\/p>\n

Michelle DeBord, Burch\u2019s daughter, recounted during Wednesday\u2019s news conference that her father strove to remember the humanity of the people behind bars during his career as a correctional officer in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would always say, \u2018Remember we\u2019re on the right side of the bars, and we have the key,\u2019 \u201d she said of her father and his colleagues. \u201cBut also to remember that, that guy in there is someone\u2019s son, is somebody\u2019s friend,\u00a0 somebody\u2019s brother. That is something my dad was not afforded at the time of his death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Judges deny request to return Trump\u2019s name to Kennedy Center pending an appeal<\/a><\/p>\n

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Huerfano County and a Pueblo-based healthcare provider will pay $10.2 million to the estate of a man who died in the Huerfano County Detention Center after officers broke his ribs and failed to give him medical treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado county, healthcare provider to pay $10.2 million after man slowly died in jail despite pleas for help - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/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:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2417\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado county, healthcare provider to pay $10.2 million after man slowly died in jail despite pleas for help - 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