Kevin Johnson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Federal prison authorities are struggling to provide adequate medical care to thousands of inmates because of persistent staffing shortages that have left some institutions with vacancy rates of 40% or higher, according to a Justice Department review.

The aging inmate population has exacerbated the staffing gaps in recent years, as the government has been increasingly unable to compete with the private sector for medical professionals who are paid exponentially more outside of government, according to the report by Justice Department's inspector general.

Physicians are paid at least 55% more in the private sector, while dentists are paid at least 112% more outside of government, the review found.

A former Bureau of Prisons (BOP) official told auditors that medical staffing vacancies have reached a "crisis level'' at some institutions.

Across the vast system, which provides services to more than 170,000 inmates, there were 656 vacancies, according to the inspector general's review.

"Although BOP policy states that the vacancy rate shall not exceed 10 percent during any 18-month period, we found that only 24 of 97 BOP institutions had a medical staffing rate of 90 percent or higher as of September 2014,'' the review found.

Auditors said prison officials have been increasingly offering available incentives above the government's pay schedule to attract needed professionals, but the approval process for such offers is "laborious, time-consuming and requires extensive knowledge that not all institution staffs possess.''

In a written response to the inspector general's findings, Thomas Kane, the bureau's acting director, concurred with the inspector general's findings that recommended, in part, that the BOP develop a more strategic recruitment and retention plan that targeted badly needed medical professionals.