Madison County Jail awaits funding for news medical provider
Madison County is using a new medical provider at its county jail, changing from a service it’s used for seven years. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, jail officials say there was a need for a better and more equipped medical service.
Madison County Sheriff John Beeman says the jail’s previous medical service didn’t offer 24-hour on-site services. From midnight till 6:00 AM, jail staff were on their own.
Beeman says inmates would wait until the medical staff was gone to report various aches and pains. Without any certified doctors at the jail, the officers’ only option was to take the inmate to the hospital.
“That happens all the time and not especially over the MCCC center, the Madison County Community Correction Center,” says Beeman. “Chest pains is a favorite because you really can’t address those as a non-medical person.”
Beeman continues, “We’ve had escapes from the MCCC side and work release side, where they’ll jump right out of the ambulance enroute to the hospital at a stop sign.”
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Beeman says when the medical provider changed to Comprehensive Correctional Care, he saw immediate improvement – like the number of emergency room visits, which went from seven in one weekend to two over the course of several months.
He was unable to confirm whether the reduction in ambulance rides would noticeably impact total expenditures. But he adds that while the new provider is more expensive than the previous one, they help undercut the additional cost by offering cost saving services such as their own pharmacy.
Beeman also says interactions he had with the previous provider contributed to his decision to change contracts. “You know, I’ve only been here 18 months and it was not a spectacular relationship the whole time,” he says.
The new provider will also supply the jail with medically licensed staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The contract with Comprehensive Correctional Care has already been approved by Madison County officials. The county council still needs to vote on additional funding of about $300,000 to pay out that contract.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu.
