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Board approves $250,000 transfer to cover jail medical costs
Summary
The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners voted to move $250,000 from fund balance into the jail's inmate medical budget after the detention facility reported unusually high hospitalization bills and a depleted overage pool.
The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners on March 17 approved a $250,000 transfer from the county's fund balance to the detention facility's inmate medical budget to cover projected shortfalls for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Captain Jennifer Brown of the sheriff's office told the board that Southern Health Partners bills for outside hospital care have been higher than usual in recent months and that the jail's overage pool limit is exhausted much earlier than budgeted. "We are requesting to move funds to the inmate medical budget line to cover a shortage that we are projecting for the rest of the fiscal year," Brown said.
The transfer request was driven by a combination of a recurring base fee for on-site medical staff and variable outside medical costs when inmates require hospitalization. Brown said the sheriff's office pays a base monthly fee that covers salaries for nursing staff and that an annual over-cost pool (OCP) of $55,000 included in the contract is typically depleted quickly. She cited recent overage invoices of roughly $25,000, $35,000'$37,000 and $58,000 and said there are additional bills that had not yet been received.
County staff said the detention line currently had about $157,000 remaining before the proposed transfer. The board was told the $48,000 monthly base fee covers staffing; the additional, unpredictable charges come from outside hospitalizations that Southern Health Partners submits and the county ultimately pays after review. Staff also said funds pulled from the fund balance for this purpose would be returned to the fund balance if not spent.
Commissioners discussed the uncertainty of the final total because some hospital invoices had not yet arrived. County staff said waiting until all invoices were received would risk repeated requests to the board and potential late payments. Commissioner Hall moved the transfer; Commissioner Kellum seconded. The board approved the transfer by voice vote.
The board did not place additional restrictions on the transferred funds at the meeting. Commissioners and staff said HIPAA limits public disclosure of patient-specific details and that the county's obligation for care falls to taxpayers when inmates are not privately insured or no longer covered by Medicaid.
The move is intended to cover the projected remainder of the fiscal year; officials said they will return to the board if further revisions are needed.
