The BOC voted unanimously to table the issue until its Sept. 21 meeting while it studies liability issues and contract details.
Copeland appeared before the 10 a.m. meeting to ask that the BOC approve what he called an “emergency contract” with CorrectHealth LLC,, an independent agency which provides healthcare services for about 30 metro jails.
He said the sheriff’s office has funds to pay for the contracted services through the remainder of this year. Then the services could be put up for bid for next year, he added.
Copeland said the department “faces a real possibility of a 60 percent reduction” in its healthcare staff, but didn’t elaborate on why this reduction would happen. He later said the department now has five full-time employees on its medical staff and could be left with just two, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and a medical assistant.
When questioned after the BOC meeting, Copeland said he couldn’t comment further because it is “a personnel matter.”
In stressing the urgency of the situation, Copeland told the BOC that the sheriff’s office is required by law to provide healthcare for inmates.
He said, as of Tuesday morning, there were 857 inmates in the jail and another 20 located in Irwin County Jail. Douglas County has been contracting with Irwin County to house inmates since the jail has gone over its capacity.
“Approximately 30 to 35 percent of the inmates are on prescription medications,” he said. “The prescriptions are given out three times per day — morning, afternoon and evening.”
Copeland said the jail usually has some diabetics who have to have blood sugar screenings in the morning and possible insulin adjustments.
“As of this morning, we have seven pregnant females, and two of them are due to deliver within the next 60 days,” he said.
He added that all those services are in addition to having regular medical sick call and needing someone on call 24 hours a day, seven days per week for emergencies.
He said CorrectHealth provides full service medical staffing to jails, and the company comes “highly recommended” by other counties.
Copeland’s plea was followed by several rounds of questions from the commissioners.
“Yes, we have urgency because of the medical situation we have, but have we had time to look at this?” District 2 Commissioner Kelly Robinson asked.
District 1 Commissioner Freddie Ashmon Jr. questioned the liability issue and the fact that a limited liability corporation would be formed for just the Douglas County contract.
“I’m concerned that people might sue, and the bulk of the lawsuit would still come back to the county,” Ashmon said. He asked that the county attorney review the contract.
District 3 Commissioner Mike Mulcare said contracting the healthcare out is “a step in the right direction” but said the county needs some security on liability.
District 4 Commissioner David Latham said his big concern is about the cost for next year, which he said would add $600-800 thousand to the budget.
“We’ll have to put together a budget with this increase,” Latham said. “I want to take another two weeks to look at this.”
In response to a question from Commission Chairman Tom Worthan, Copeland said the county has run the medical service for 35 years, and, if it continues, more staffing will be required.
Worthan suggested tabling the issue until the next BOC meeting. The subsequent motion was approved by unanimous vote.
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