Inmates’ pleas went unheard, whistleblower states

MCSO employee photo of Mary Tolbert Coy, a registered nurse who worked as the sheriff’s medical compliance liaison from February 2018 until August 2024.

In newly exchanged discovery materials obtained in the case of Coy vs. Billy Woods, former Marion County Jail medical liaison Mary Tolbert Coy expounds on allegations that jail leadership and its medical contractor, the Heart of Florida Health Center, repeatedly ignored warnings of substandard inmate care—even as taxpayers’ costs surged under a multimillion-dollar medical contract.

Coy’s verified answers to interrogatories—which are written questions posed to the opposing party, for which a response is required—portray a system in which her internal reports, monitoring and requests for outside scrutiny were discounted or blocked. Among her claims: “Discovery of falsified mental health inmate medical records, including documented assessments for inmates who were not seen or had been released.”

She also stated that “disabled inmates were denied access to the grievance computer system through security, preventing them from filing medical complaints.”

Coy wrote that the jail went without a dentist for months and that response times for sick calls expanded from 72 hours to seven days—even then failing to meet the standard in many cases.

“Medical had no Dentist for several months,” she said, adding her ongoing complaints that the provider “deliberately refused to provide care on countless occasions.”

In one poignant example, Coy said a detoxing inmate endured hours of pain, alleging “the nurse refused to treat the inmate” and later asserting “the inmate later died.” She claimed she raised these issues with internal investigators and lodged them in monthly audits.

Coy further describes being shut out of oversight efforts with external entities.

“I had been kept out of the meetings with The Disability Rights employees and lawyers that were visiting the jail,” she stated, despite her role as medical liaison.

According to her filings, Coy attempted to prompt investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and Disability Rights Florida, but MCSO leadership ignored or rebuffed her outreach.

Background: Contract, oversight and whistleblower suit

Coy’s case ties into the “Ocala Gazette’s” investigation into the high number of in-custody deaths linked to the $14 million annual contract between Marion County and Heart of Florida Health Centers to provide inmate health care at the jail. According to IRS filings, Heart of Florida’s revenue from that and related contracts grew from $28.5 million in 2021 to $45.8 million in 2023—even as questions remain whether increased spending produced better care.

The “Gazette” has documented multiple in-custody deaths tied to medical neglect, including cases in which delays, inadequate staffing and questionable medical records raised red flags.

Coy was employed at the Marion County Jail from February 2018 until August 2024. In her whistleblower complaint, she argues she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for raising concerns about medical care. The lawsuit invokes Florida’s Whistleblower Act.

According to public records exchanged in discovery, Coy’s job duties were changed mid-employment. She initially had authority to investigate and resolve inmate medical complaints, but after she filed alarm letters to MCSO administration, her responsibilities were narrowed to purely monitoring.

Coy claims that as her warnings grew sharper, she was marginalized by jail leadership.

“I am seen as the ‘bad’ guy for trying to help human beings receive basic humane treatment,” she wrote in a letter to MCSO administration.

Heart of Florida and the Sheriff’s Office declined to answer many of the “Gazette’s” questions about cost breakdowns, staffing and contract compliance.

The sheriff recently told Marion County Board of Commissioners during a budget workshop that the Heart of Florida provided good care for the inmates, “regardless of what these articles are being written out here, I don’t give a crap what the media is saying. Heart of Florida does a damn good job of providing the services for the inmates.”

Court records show that a judge has ordered the parties into mediation, which is tentatively scheduled for June 2026. If mediation fails to resolve the dispute, a trial period is expected to be set for a time afterward. Currently, Coy’s case is assigned to Marion County Judge Lisa Herndon.