County team previews Garfield Heights jail design, medical services and schedule for GMP

Project managers and county staff gave the Public Safety and Justice Affairs Committee a design‑development update on the Cuyahoga County Central Services campus and new jail in Garfield Heights, describing the design schedule, planned inmate medical services, visitation layout and procurement and bonding milestones.

Jeff Applebaum of Project Management Consultants said the team has reached 50 percent design development and is reconciling the 50 percent estimate with the project budget. “We are through 50% design development,” Applebaum said, and he described a schedule that aims to receive a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) proposal by December, reconcile it in January and bring GMP and bond legislation to council in March.

Nicole English of Public Works walked the committee through exterior images and interior program elements, including a public lobby with screening, a consolidated screening corridor for the jail, a mix of non‑contact and contact visitation rooms (nine non‑contact booths, six contact booths and three family visitation rooms), and staff workspaces. She said visitation plans were vetted by a smaller group of Common Pleas judges, the public defender, defense attorneys and the prosecutor, who “felt really good about this plan.”

Laurel Demanski Diaz, Justice and Health Equity Officer for the Executive, outlined expanded medical services in the planned facility: a main clinical area with an on‑site pharmacy and medication carts, three dental bays (added to increase operational efficiency), multiple triage and exam rooms, telemedicine capability, an on‑site lab, two dialysis chairs to reduce off‑site transports, a physical‑therapy room and an x‑ray suite. She described a 26‑bed infirmary for short‑term skilled nursing and observation — “not hospital level care,” she said — and noted negative‑pressure rooms and 24/7 nursing and provider coverage for higher‑acuity detainees.

Applebaum and staff also described a smaller reentry and release center intended to provide phones, bus tickets, limited clothing and linkage to community services and prescriptions at discharge. County staff said the release center footprint had been reduced from earlier concepts but will retain similar service capacity.

On schedule and budget, Applebaum said the team is reconciling the 50% design estimate and expects to be “within a few percentage points” of previously discussed budget numbers once design development is complete. Council members pressed for clarity on total cost figures, land costs and additional program elements (for example, a shooting‑range budget and separate sheriff administration costs); staff acknowledged some numbers provided in the meeting were shorthand and said the project team will provide a fuller accounting. Applebaum emphasized procurement and community‑benefit commitments; the design‑build team has set subcontracting goals for SBE/WBE/MBE participation and is conducting vendor fairs and outreach to meet those targets.

Committee members asked detailed operational questions about durability of detention‑grade furnishings, canine and screening arrangements, restroom separations in visitation, whether infirmary beds could serve as overflow housing (staff said infirmary beds are not ODRC‑rated for long‑term general population use), and whether the medical areas would reduce transports to outside hospitals. Staff said the new on‑site services and telemedicine capability are expected to reduce off‑site transports but will not eliminate the need for hospital‑level imaging and services.

No formal committee vote was required for the presentation. Staff said they will return with a finalized operational analysis (an amendment to the earlier operational study, with a draft expected in mid‑November) and more detailed budget and schedule materials as the team moves to GMP preparation.