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Detention center reports outside medical appointments, cites rising costs and deputy overtime
Summary
Jailer Fields reported detailed outside medical appointments for July–Dec. (including 37 dialysis and 36 cancer-care visits) and said the county spent about $114,925 for county inmates and $59,155 for state inmates in the first six months; he said deputy overtime for hospital coverage was substantial.
Jailer Fields provided a report on outside medical appointments and related costs for the detention center through the first half of the fiscal year. He itemized appointments from July 1 to Dec. 12: 37 dialysis visits, 36 cancer-care appointments, 23 advanced wound-care visits, 62 pregnancy and reproductive-health appointments, and multiple specialty visits including cardiology, neurology and infectious disease. He said county medical spending for county inmates totaled $114,924.82 and spending for state inmates totaled $59,155 for the same period; by contrast the state per-diem the county receives for state inmates is $2.34 per day.
Fields said two deputies are now assigned full time to medical transport and that overtime at hospitals last year amounted to roughly 14,000 hours, which he said contributes to rising detention costs. He noted the county has pursued litigation to seek state reimbursement and that the case has progressed through appellate courts to the state Supreme Court.
