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County budget workshop covers jail medical contract increases and PATH grant plans
Summary
Officials told supervisors that the jail’s medical contract with Wellpath increased and the PATH reentry grant will add professional‑services costs and billing/subcontract requirements; staff said they will pursue Medi‑Cal billing and invoicing capacity to offset PATH expenses.
Del Norte County presented the jail budget and a multi‑part plan to implement the PATH reentry grant, describe medical contract costs and outline how professional services will be used to support medication‑assisted treatment and billing.
Staff said the jail’s medical contract with Wellpath has increased by about $200,000 year over year and that, while Wellpath provides in‑facility medical services, there are few alternative providers in the market. Staff and the sheriff said contracting out jail medical services remains more feasible than in‑house provision because of state mandates and administrative burdens.
The PATH (Project for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) grant was described as three “pots” of funding: infrastructure, space reconfiguration for medication delivery and salary offsets for contracted services. The budget shows $1.4 million in professional services for PATH in the jail budget unit; staff explained that some of that will be used to expand Wellpath services inside the jail (including MAT program FTEs), add charting capacity to support Medi‑Cal billing, and subcontract for Medi‑Cal administrative/billing expertise. Staff said they expect Title III and other drawdown funds to offset some PATH‑related equipment and training costs.
County staff acknowledged the PATH grant and related professional services line items are budgeted as expected but not yet received; the approach is a drawdown model in which the county invoices and receives reimbursement. Administrators said they plan to subcontract Medi‑Cal billing and to ensure state audits and billing compliance are covered by the department.
