Vasquez-Garcia v. Centurion

── Vasquez-Garcia v. Centurion ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-2007 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH April 15, 2026 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ SANDRA VASQUEZ-GARCIA, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-2007 CENTURION, LLC; CENTURION CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE OF NEW MEXICO, LLC; MHM HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INC.; WEXFORD HEALTH SOURCES, INC.; SUMMIT FOOD SERVICE, LLC; ALISHA TAFOYA LUCERO, NM Secretary for Department Corrections, in her individual capacity; WENCE ASONGANYI, NMCD Health Services Administrator, in his individual capacity; ORION STRADFORD, NMCD Bureau Chief, in his individual capacity; MICHAEL HILDENBRANDT, Wexford Director of Operations, in his individual capacity; DR. KESHAB PAUDEL, Wexford Regional Medical Director, in his individual capacity; SARAH CARTWRIGHT, Wexford Regional Director of Nursing, in her individual capacity; DEANNI WOOD, Wexford Regional Manager of WNMCF, in her individual capacity; STEVEN WHEELER, in his individual capacity; ROCK WELCH, in his individual capacity; JEFFREY  Appellate Case: 25-2007 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 2 KELLER, in his individual capacity; ANGELA GOEHRING, in her individual capacity; KAREN RILEY, in her individual capacity; JOHNNIE LAMBERT, in her individual capacity, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:24-CV-00443-JCH-LF) _________________________________ Clare A. Saunders of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Boston, Massachusetts (Jake W. Murphy of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Denver, Colorado; Andrew T. Tutt, Katie Weng of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C., with her on the briefs), for Plaintiff- Appellant. James J. Grubel of Park & Associates, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Alfred A. Park of Park & Associates, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mary T. Torres of Law Offices of Mary T. Torres, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Bryan C. Garcia, Jessica L. Czajkowski of Garcia Law Group, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jacqueline A. Olexy, Gregory D. Steinman, and M. Eliza Stewart of Madison, Mroz, Steinman, Kenny & Olexy, P.A., Albuquerque, New Mexico, with him on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees. _________________________________ Before PHILLIPS, McHUGH, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ FEDERICO, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Sandra Vasquez-Garcia was a prisoner at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility until May 7, 2021. Her medical care in custody was overseen by a variety of state officials and government contractors. They 2  Appellate Case: 25-2007 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 Page: 3 bore a particularly delicate responsibility for Vasquez-Garcia’s care in light of her pre-existing health conditions, including diabetes. Vasquez-Garcia alleges, however, that throughout her incarceration, those responsible for her care failed to provide her with the necessary medical care. She sued the officials and contractors, and in the district court, she argued that their