Getting Medical Information About Someone in Prison

If no one will tell you anything about a hospitalized or sick family member, it is very likely not that staff are being unhelpful — it's that the paperwork that legally allows them to talk to you doesn't exist yet. Federal and state medical privacy law (the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act) means CDCR cannot release health information to anyone, including a spouse or a parent, without it. This page walks through that one form and the three separate contacts you need depending on what's actually happening.

The mistake almost every family makes: Section 6 of the authorization form has two separate checkboxes for how information can be released — "written or electronic records" and "verbal or written correspondence." They are independent. If your loved one only checks the records box, staff can hand over documents but cannot legally talk to you on the phone. Make sure both boxes are checked.

The form: CDCR 7385

The form is CDCR 7385, Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information (current revision 05/25). It is available in English and Spanish at any institution office that provides health care services. Nothing gets released to family without it.

! Your family member has to request and sign this form — you cannot start it from the outside. Ask them to request it from their institution's health care clinic as soon as possible, before there's an emergency to react to.

Filling it out so it actually works

The form has nine sections. These are the ones that most often get family members turned away or delayed:

Section 2 — who receives the information

Check "Person or Organization Name" and fill in your full name, mailing address, phone number, and email or fax — completely. An incomplete recipient section is one of the most common reasons a form gets rejected.

Section 4 — purpose

Check "Family."

Section 5 — what gets released

HIV test results are checked and released separately from everything else, and a brand-new authorization is required for every future disclosure of them. Regional center developmental disability records and outside substance use treatment records (Part 2 programs) carry extra legal protections and need their own boxes checked — they are not covered by "all information."

Section 6 — method of release (the one above)

Check both "written or electronic records" and "verbal or written correspondence" if you want staff to be able to talk to you by phone, not just send documents. Note: the verbal/written correspondence option is not available once the patient has paroled or discharged from CDCR.

Section 7 — expiration

Three choices: until revoked by the patient, one year from the signing date, or a specific date. We'd recommend "until revoked by the patient" so it doesn't silently expire during a long sentence.

Section 9 — signature

If someone signs as the patient's Agent instead of the patient signing directly, documentation of that authority (power of attorney, conservatorship, etc.) has to be attached, or the form isn't valid.

Which situation, which phone number

Families tend to treat "I need to talk to someone about their health" as one problem. CDCR treats it as three, and calling the wrong one means your call doesn't get returned.

1. Urgent change in condition

Call your facility's Patient Health Care Inquiry (PHCI) line. This is for urgent changes only — a hospitalization, a serious new diagnosis, a sudden decline. Staff will not call back if the matter isn't urgent, or if you're not an authorized recipient on a signed 7385. Find your facility's PHCI number on its BridgeTheBars page.

2. Imminent danger — do not use PHCI

If this is about suicide, homicide, or any risk of imminent bodily injury

Do not call the PHCI line for this — it is not staffed for emergencies and is not the right channel. Call the institution's main phone line and leave a message for the Watch Office. That routes to custody staff who can act immediately, not to a health records office.

3. Any non-urgent question

Put it in writing instead of calling — a written inquiry is what actually gets researched and answered:

Mail: California Correctional Health Care Services, Health Care Correspondence and Appeals Branch, P.O. Box 588500, Elk Grove, CA 95758
Email: m_CCHCSPHCI@cdcr.ca.gov

We know people usually call CCHCS frightened and angry, and that's understandable — but messages containing threatening, obscene, demeaning, or abusive language will not get a response, for any of these three contacts. However urgent it feels, a calm, factual message is the one that actually gets you an answer.

PHCI is not where you send the form or request records

CCHCS says this directly: the PHCI process is not the correct place to submit a signed 7385, and it's not the correct place to request copies of health records. Those go to a different office entirely:

Records requests — Health and Imaging Records Center, P.O. Box 588500, Elk Grove, CA 95758 · Fax (916) 229-0608 · Email releaseofinformation@cdcr.ca.gov
Records after someone has been released from prison — (916) 379-4545

When it doesn't work

If you've done all of this correctly and you're still not getting answers, the next formal step is a CDCR Form 602-HC health care grievance, filed by the patient. That process is detailed enough to deserve its own page — for now, just know the form exists and what it's for. For safety, medical, mental health, or legal/document emergencies in the meantime, see our Emergency Help Script guide, which covers the CDCR Ombudsman. For outside legal help specifically around health care in California prisons, Prison Law Office ↗ is an independent nonprofit resource, not part of CDCR.

Source: CDCR Form 7385 (Rev. 05/25) and cchcs.ca.gov/contact/, both fetched directly. Verified 2026-08-04.