The former medical provider at Westmoreland County Prison has been removed from a federal lawsuit filed last year by an inmate.

Robert James Frantz, formerly of Hempfield, claimed he was improperly cared for at the Hempfield lockup.

Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti, in a ruling finalized Monday, dismissed claims filed by Frantz against Wexford Health Sources Inc. Similar claims against the county, jail and former Warden Bryan Kline remain pending.

Frantz claimed his constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment were violated when he suffered injuries in a fight with another inmate on Jan. 3, 2022. He claimed he was not monitored in a solitary confinement cell for at least 12 hours, causing a delay in needed medical attention.

According to the lawsuit, Frantz eventually wsa transferred to Westmoreland Hospital on Jan. 20, 2022. He was diagnosed with incoherent speech, altered mental status, hypothermia and later with septic shock, covid-19, a urinary tract infection and large bedsores, according to the lawsuit.

Frantz was released from custody on March 3, first to a rehabilitation facility and later to a nursing home in Latrobe where he was bedridden and had no use of his legs, his lawyers said in court documents.

Wexford, a private company, operated as the jail’s medical provider for inmates through August 2022, when it was replaced at the expiration of its five-year contract. That summer, Westmoreland commissioners inked a five-year $20.9 million contract with Harrisburg-based PrimeCare Medical to provide health care for inmates at the county jail, a deal that doubled health care costs at the facility.

The judge dismissed multiple counts against Wexford, concluding Frantz provided insufficient evidence to support the allegations. Frantz contended that the company set internal prison policy and that it was aware of his condition that required him to be checked on and treated during his 12 hours in solitary confinement.

“Similarly, the amended complaint does not allege that Wexford refused to treat him, prevented him from getting treatment or delayed treatment,” according to an opinion filed in May by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia L. Dodge.

Frantz’s attorney, Graham F. Baird, said in court documents an amended complaint could be filed to support additional claims against Wexford.

Westmoreland County, in court documents, refuted the allegations raised by Frantz.

It argued Frantz was medically screened and treated by Wexford staff throughout his incarceration and that he was referred to medical personnel on multiple occasions.

The county also claimed Frantz refused medical treatment.

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