County correspondence: jail-health contractor to leave Washington; commissioners warned of higher costs

Cowlitz County commissioners on Tuesday reviewed correspondence indicating the county’s current jail-health contractor, NaphCare Inc., plans to withdraw from providing services in Washington by September, county officials said.

The commissioners discussed a letter in the meeting packet that described recent large jury awards against NaphCare in lawsuits alleging deficient jail medical care. The correspondence cited a $25 million award in a Pierce County case and a separate punitive award of roughly $24 million in a Spokane County case, and said those verdicts have contributed to providers exiting the state.

"When you go to jail in Washington State, you need to be provided health care," the chair said during the meeting. "At this point in time, if somebody's on a state plan or Medicare or whatever, when they go to jail that stops, and so we have to provide the health care for them while they're in jail." The chair said the county will have to find another vendor by September, and that the change could raise the county's costs for jail health care and insurance.

Staff told the board that the county’s contract with the current vendor is ending and that finding a replacement has become more difficult because of litigation and liability concerns in the market. No formal procurement or contract award was announced at the meeting; staff said the county must identify a vendor before the contractor exits.

The commissioners did not take a formal action at the meeting on this matter but discussed the operational and budgetary implications for the sheriff’s office and county budget.